A unit linked to the UK Home Office has been keeping files on people who criticize the government's Prevent counter-extremism program online. The documents came to light through a freedom-of-information request filed by the campaign group Rights & Security International (RSI), which published them on September 25, 2026; Reclaim The Net reported on the release on October 2, 2026.
Prevent is the UK government's counter-extremism program. The Prevent Standards and Compliance Unit, or StaCU, is described in the documents as "a body linked to the Home Office." The unit's documented activity in the released material consists of watching for public criticism of Prevent.
The unit records what it calls "observations" of people who speak against the program on the internet. These observations are filed as "open-source complaints" and stored internally by StaCU. According to RSI, the process includes "attempting to independently verify claims." What the unit does with the data after that, and who it may be shared with, is not explained in the documents.
In the year from March 2024 to February 2025, StaCU made 77 observations. Most of them came from X, with some from Reddit. The collection also included mainstream media articles, among them the Guardian and the Telegraph. Many of the recorded posts were made by individuals, but some were from or about organizations, including Hope Not Hate, Maslaha, and the Open Rights Group.
RSI does not know whether the unit used automated tools to find the posts, or, if it did not, how it located them. The group also does not know what happens to the stored information, apart from the verification step, or with whom the government may share it.
The Home Office initially refused RSI's freedom-of-information request. RSI appealed to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), and the documents were released after the appeal succeeded.
Jacob Smith, RSI's Freedom of Expression and Belief Team Leader, said that "you should be able to criticize government policy without getting put on a list," and that the practice should serve as "a stark reminder that, in the government's eyes, anything you share online is fair game and could go into a file forever."
The released documents show what StaCU reported collecting; they do not establish what the unit ultimately did with the information. The figures cover roughly one year and reflect what RSI was able to obtain through the freedom-of-information process, not necessarily the full scope of the unit's monitoring. The Home Office has not, in the published material, explained the purpose of the files or the rules that govern them.