Incels are “slipping through the net” of government efforts to intervene and deradicalise affected boys and men, experts have told Sky News.
Academics, including co-authors of an independent government report on the mostly online subculture, have warned that efforts like Prevent and the Online Safety Act were struggling to fully grapple with the problem.
The incel – or “involuntarily celibate” – movement is a largely, but not entirely, online subculture of males who feel unable to have sex or find love and express hostility and extreme resentment towards women.
It is not the only extremist ideology that features misogynistic narratives and was described as a “manifestation of a much wider societal issue of violence against women and girls”.
The issue was portrayed in the recent TV show Adolescence.
Often found on encrypted platforms or “dark corners of the internet”, bleeding into the real world, inceldom isn’t illegal but can perpetuate violence.
It has been linked to a number of violent attacks in the West, including the 2021 Plymouth mass shooting by Jake Davison who killed five people.
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Misogyny as a hate crime
Dr Lisa Siguira told Sky News that misogyny not being defined as a hate crime left enforcement efforts sometimes toothless to try and tackle inceldom, leaving it freer to operate.
Incel content, she said, existed on a spectrum from the mildly alarming and grossly distasteful, veering into violently misogynistic but often it did not meet the threshold of illegality.
So while content was mostly scrubbed from more mainstream platforms by companies themselves, incels were free to thrive in closed-off forums and on encrypted chat apps.
Sky News understands the government is currently considering recommendations from the Law Commission, two of which link to the issue of misogyny as a hate crime.
The Law Commission previously recommended not to make misogyny a hate crime and Rape Crisis England and Wales said that making sex and gender protected characteristics risks further complicating the judicial process, making it even harder to secure convictions.
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‘Slipping through the gaps’
Giving another example of how incels slipped through the gaps, Dr Andrew Thomas, a co-author of an independent government report on incels, said there was sometimes confusion between services like Prevent and health and social service on who was responsible for radicalised individuals.
Incels accounted for around 1% of Prevent referrals in the year 2023/24.
Dr Thomas said: “The former [Prevent] often don’t see incels as ‘extreme’ enough for Prevent relative to other groups.
“They often present as men with poor social skills who need mental health and social support.
“The latter come across as very extreme to the NHS and seem like a Prevent issue.”
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Legislating the internet
Dr Joe Whittaker told Sky News the issue of trying to help those drawn into inceldom was further complicated by the wider difficulties of trying to legislate the internet.
He explained: “The pace of technological change moves a lot faster than the government… it took years to turn the Online Safety Bill into an act.”
He added: “There’s a real argument we’ve reached the peak of what we can do with decentralised and encrypted platforms,” cautioning against infringing on privacy rights.
So even if enforcement efforts were given greater power, forcing websites and apps from around the world to comply would be increasingly difficult.
He also pointed out lessons learned from trying to deal with extreme Islamist terrorists, where such individuals were simply forced into more shut-off areas on the internet instead of the root issues of radicalisation being dealt with.
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‘Scourge on our society’
A government spokesperson told Sky News: “Violence against women and girls is a scourge on our society which is why we have set out an unprecedented mission to halve these crimes within a decade.
“Parts of the Online Safety Act have come into force meaning companies must take action to protect users from illegal material including extreme sexual violence.
“Further protections from this summer will require platforms to protect children from harmful misogynistic and violent content.
“While incel ideologies make up a small fraction of referrals to Prevent, they are monitored as an emerging threat with tailored support provided to individuals.
“Tackling misogyny both online and offline is central to supporting victims and preventing harm in our communities and we will not hesitate to strengthen laws to deliver this mission.”
