Michael Adebowale, one of the two men who butchered a British soldier on the streets of London last year, had boasted on Facebook that he intended to kill, but the social media company failed to alert the British authorities, it has emerged.
In its report, Westminster's intelligence and security committee (ISC) criticised British intelligence agencies for a series of errors surrounding the May 2013 killing in Woolwich of Fusilier Lee Rigby. However, MI5, MI6 and the UK's electronic surveillance agency, GCHQ, were "not in a position to prevent the murder" given what they knew about the intentions of Adebowale and his partner, Michael Adebolajo.
Adebowale, who was sentenced to serve the rest of his life in jail for the killing, had boasted on Facebook in a message to an unnamed extremist five months before Woolwich that he intended to kill a British soldier in a so-called lone-wolf attack.
Describing this as being the one single piece of intelligence that “could have been decisive” in saving Fusilier Rigby’s life, the security committee said MI5 would have made Adebowale “a top priority” had they been told.
Seven agencies
Adebowale and Adebolajo had at different times and for different reasons come to the attention of seven different British agencies but surveillance was stopped because their actions did not justify its continuation, said the report.
Facebook was not identified directly by the committee or by prime minister David Cameron when he gave a statement on the report about the brutal killing to the House of Commons, but it emerged subsequently.
In its report, the ISC found that Facebook’s automated checks did “not identify” Adebowale’s boast when it occurred, and it had “no mechanism to notify the authorities” when it later closed down several more of Adebowale’s accounts on the grounds of terrorism.
The company “does not appear to regard itself as under any obligation to ensure that its systems identify such exchanges, or to take action or notify the authorities when its communications services appear to be used by terrorists,” said the ISC, which is chaired by former British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind.
“There is therefore a risk that, however unintentionally, it provides a safe haven for terrorists to communicate within,” the report continued.
Terrorist content
In a statement, Facebook said it would not comment on an individual case: “But Facebook’s policies are clear, we do not allow terrorist content on the site and take steps to prevent people from using our service for these purposes.”
Ironically, it is now understood that Adebowale – who was described by MI5 as highly security-conscious, using pay “phones for many of his calls” – deleted the account himself, realising that his boast could be tracked.
Mr Cameron said the ISC’s findings were very serious, and that foreign-based internet companies – who have encrypted their traffic in the wake of Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing – have further to go to improve their co-operation with the authorities.
“Terrorists are using the internet to communicate with each other. We must not accept that these communications are beyond the reach of the authorities or the internet companies themselves. We have taken action. We have passed legislation.
“We will continue to do everything we can. And we expect the internet companies to do all they can too. Their networks are being used to plot murder and mayhem. It is their social responsibility to act on this. And we expect them to live up to it.”
Some members of the ISC are unhappy that a leak of the report’s findings sought to argue that the committee was behind home secretary Theresa May’s plans to force internet companies to keep detailed logs so that traffic from individuals could be tracked better.
