A police unit dedicated to scrubbing terrorist material from the internet says it will have removed 250,000 pieces of content by Christmas.

The UK's Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) has also said that far-right extremist material is on the rise.

The CTIRU was set up in 2010 and works with internet giants like Facebook and Twitter to take down social media posts, images and videos.

It now removes 2,000 pieces of content each week.

Detective Chief Superintendent Clarke Jarrett, from the Counter Terrorism Command, told Sky News: "It's a really important role as part of the counter terrorism network.


"We also think that it's a big dent in the amount of propaganda that extremist groups put out there."

The CTIRU's officers scour the internet looking for terrorist material but also rely on public referrals through an anonymous tip line.

Image: Junead Khan, from Luton, was convicted in 2016 of plotting to attack US soldiers

Examples taken down include movies glamorising Islamic State fighters or idealising civilian life inside their self-proclaimed caliphate, or more direct messages urging would-be recruits to buy knives from hardware stores to carry out attacks.

The CTIRU has so far removed 249,091 pieces of material from the internet since 2010, working with more than 300 different companies.

This year was its busiest, with 121,151 pieces removed - more than double 2015 when 55,556 were taken down.

Mr Jarrett also said the unit had noticed an uptick in far-right extremist removals, with more members of the public referring that type of content, although he did not give a specific figure.

However, the vast majority is still related to jihadism and the material is sometimes implicated in real-life terror cases.

Junead Khan, from Luton, was convicted this year for plotting to attack US soldiers with knives and potentially detonate a homemade bomb.

Met Police officers found graphic videos and images of soldiers being tortured by IS. The CITRU has sought to remove that material from the internet.

Mr Jarrett also said the unit had good relations with tech companies, but that these "could improve".