A man from Chadwell Heath has been convicted of encouraging terrorism through TikTok after he posted videos celebrating 9/11 perpetrators. 

Hamza Alam, 23, was found guilty of three counts of disseminating terrorist publications by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court. 

Alam was first arrested at his home in Conway Crescent in June 2022 after police linked him to a Telegram chat which had 60 members.  

Alam was lead administrator of the chat and had sent documents glorifying the commission of terrorist acts.  

"His purpose within the group was to discuss, share and disseminate extreme Islamic content,” prosecutor Paul Casey told the jury.  

The jury was shown “Islamic State propaganda videos” which had been shared by Alam, including clips of prisoners being executed.  

Mr Casey said Alam had also created a folder on the site archive.org, including Islamic State propaganda videos which celebrated 9/11 as “the first blow in their satanic capitalistic system”.  

Alam was released under investigation but was arrested again in September 2023 after police linked him to two TikTok accounts, the court heard. 

Jurors were told one of the accounts had more than 1,000 followers, 13,000 likes and had uploaded 126 videos.  

Some of the videos were perfectly innocent, but others encouraged jihad and celebrated figures such as the 9/11 terrorists, Mr Casey said.  

When police searched Alam’s computer they found photographs of his own face superimposed on those of Islamic State fighters, the court heard.  

Alam denied three charges of disseminating terrorist publications and one charge of encouraging terrorism.  

When he was interviewed he told police he had been acting as a “librarian”.  

“He told police he had assessed the material and that in his mind there was no risk that posting it would encourage terrorism,” Mr Casey said. 

After a two-week trial the jury returned guilty verdicts on Thursday (April 25). 

Alam will be sentenced in June.

Det Ch Supt Gareth Rees, head of operations for the Met’s counter terrorism command, said: “Alam insisted that he was simply an ‘online librarian’, providing a service to the public by sharing this material. 

“That was not the case - by sharing violent and extreme terrorist publications, he is now a terrorist offender and faces a significant jail sentence. 

“He was found to have shared content deliberately and recklessly, with the aim of encouraging others to carry out violent acts of terror. 

“We know that the type of content Alam was sharing can have a tangible and dangerous impact, particularly when it comes to the radicalisation of young people in our communities. 

“In this case, officers worked hard to build a clear picture of Alam’s activity and it demonstrates that we will always work incredibly hard to bring individuals like him to justice.”