UPDATE: This article was based on a report published by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority stating that anti-fracking activists "groomed" a 14-year-old boy on social media. Following publication, GMCA accepted that its report was wrong and apologised for it; the boy was in fact targeted by another group of environmental activists, not by the anti-fracking movement.

Read the updated article here

A 14-year-old A* student was referred to the Government’s anti-terror programme after being “groomed” by anti-fracking activists online.

The boy, known by the pseudonym Aaron, was targeted via social media after signing an online petition, according to a report on preventing extremism in Greater Manchester commissioned in the aftermath of last year’s Manchester Arena attack.

Aaron was referred to the anti-terror programme Channel by his school, due to concerns about his extreme beliefs in relation to the environment, specifically issues around fracking.

According to the report Aaron was encouraged to participate in protests against fracking by local activists, however the approaches from activists become “progressively more aggressive to the point where Aaron was on the periphery of engaging with criminal behaviour” and was being frequently reported as missing by his parents.

Activists only ceased contact with the boy when police made them the subject of an abduction notice prohibiting them from making contact with him. A breach of such a notice is a criminal offence.