Detectives and the Met Police could be granted new permissions to trace and target rap group members from online videos.
Individuals from videos, deemed to be inciting violence, are to be treated “like terror suspects”. Jim Stokley, the Met Police’s gang crime chief, says the measures will mean that officers will no longer need to prove a link between social media, online videos and violence to convict an artist. The measures are yet to be approved by the judiciary.
“There isn’t specific legislation, and clearly we can’t use terrorism legislation [but] in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), we have found some existing legislation which we are going to use,” he said.
This comes after YouTube deleted 30 UK drill videos at the request of the Metropolitan police this week. In a statement detailing the motives behind the action, senior police officer Cressida Dick stated: “Drill music is associated with lyrics which are about glamourising serious violence. They describe the stabbings in great detail, joy and excitement.”
According to the Press Association, Scotland Yard are alleged to have requested between 50 and 60 videos be removed, and have built up a database of more than 1,400 videos to use an an intelligence tool to counter violent crime.
