4-year-old referred to anti-extremism program after talking about Fortnite, raises internet's ire

Fortnite is a game that has swept the world by storm.

In May 2020, Epic Games announced that Fortnite had a staggering 350 million registered accounts, with players spending 3.3 billion hours in-game in April alone.

It's no surprise that the game has achieved immense popularity, attracting some of the gaming world's biggest names.

Fortnite is really popular amongst kids and is slowly becoming a pop culture legend of this generation.

The last thing anyone could imagine happening was a four-year-old being referred to the anti-extremist program by his after-school club for talking about Fortnite.

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Being flagged for Fortnite

In a very unusual series of events, a Muslim boy residing in the West-Midlands was referred to the anti-extremism program 'Prevent' after his comments about Fortnite trigged red flags.

The boy was referred to the program in September 2019 after saying his father had "guns and bombs in his shed."

A transcript of the entire conversation was sent to the boy's mother in which the word Fortnite was clearly mentioned. The game has a lot of the elements that the boy spoke about.

His even mother made a statement:

"He's just a little boy with an imagination. The teachers should know in this setting that (children) have imagination. They know exactly what kids are like and what young boys are like. I do think that if it were a white boy, they wouldn't have actually gone to that extreme of referring him to the 'Prevent' scheme. Even the police officer who visited our home appeared uneasy, as though he did not think the visit was necessary."

Twitter users were visibly unhappy about the entire fiasco.

A Home Office spokesperson had this to say in response:

"Where someone is concerned a child may have been deliberately exposed to harmful terrorist narratives, it is right that they (public bodies) refer them to the necessary authorities. 'Prevent' is first and foremost about safeguarding, and through this referral, the child will be able to receive the vital support they need."

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What is Prevent?

Prevent is the UK Government’s counter-terrorism strategy that tries to check radicalization and stop would-be terrorists from committing murder.

All public bodies, including schools and nurseries, must report anyone suspected of radicalization to the authorities.

While the program aims to de-radicalize children who may have been exposed to malicious individuals, many fear that it now merely targets certain ethnic groups instead.

Figures obtained in a 'freedom-of-information' request revealed that 624 children under the age of 6 were referred to Prevent between 2016 and 2019. A further 1,405 children between the ages of 6 and 9 were referred to the scheme around the same time.

There is no further comment regarding the situation from the Home Office. Although 'Prevent' has helped many over the years, public opinion says otherwise.