Removal of drill and rap music from YouTube and Project Alpha
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035805
I note you seek access to the following information:
I write seeking more information regarding the Metropolitan Police’s relationship with
YouTube and the removal of drill/rap music videos from that website — a subject which has received much media attention since first being publicised by the Met in 2018.
- The number of drill/rap music videos the Met requested removal of, from YouTube, since September 2020, broken down by year.
- The number of drill/rap music videos successfully removed from YouTube, at the Met’s request, since September 2020, broken down by year.
- A list of all those drill/rap music videos removed from YouTube, at the Met’s request, since September 2020, broken down by year.
- The number of pieces of drill/rap video content indexed by the Met since September 2020, broken down by year.
- The names of the “key channels” the Met is working with to reduce the likelihood of threat, harm and risk being generated.
- The amount of funding secured for the running of Project Alpha, and the source of this funding, since its inception — broken down by year.
- The number of police staff and officers that make up the Project Alpha team – broken down by year since its inception.
- In June 2023, it was reported that since February 2023 age and ethnicity data has been recorded “where identifiable” by Project Alpha officers.
- Please provide percentage breakdowns of age groups (0 to 10, 11 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 30, 30+) and ethnicity data as recorded by Project Alpha officers since February 2023
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. However, the data for April 2023 to March 2024 in relation to questions 1 and 2 will be published following the conclusion of this financial year and will therefore not be provided. The information in relation to questions 3 and 5 will also not be disclosed. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 22(1)(a) – Information intended for future publication.
Section 31(1)(a)(b) - Law Enforcement
Section 40(2)&(3A)(a) - Personal Data
Reason for decision
Section 22(1)(a) – Information intended for future publication - Related to information for the financial year April 2023 to April 2024, in Q1 & 2.
Processes in place - In recent years there has been an increase in Freedom of Information Act requests. Data collation in relation to this subject matter is carried out by a team of analysts who collate, review and interpret the data acquired. This process is well established and ensures that data that is of the public interest is available on a regular basis, and significantly also serves to reduce the financial and administrative cost of responding to requests for information under the Act. It would be both administratively and financially prohibitive for the MPS to collate and release information in response to individual requests when the information requested will be published at some future date. The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) who are the UK's independent body set up to uphold information rights guidance states ‘12. Although the public authority must hold the information at the time of the request with a view to its publication, the exemption does not require a set publication date to be in place’.
Project Alpha have confirmed that their intention to publish the requested data, at some point this year. The public interest factors favouring disclosure will be satisfied upon publication of this information and therefore I deem it appropriate to apply a section 22 exemption to this part of this request.
Section 31(1)(a)(b) - Law Enforcement - in relation to Q3 - allows public authorities to withhold information if it is likely to or would prejudice ‘The prevention or detection of crime’ and ‘The apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
Enabling criminal or malicious intent - It is imperative that where necessary the MPS has the ability to use different channels and technology which helps to prevent and detect crime. If the MPS were to specify the channels/products and or companies that we use to support us undertake law enforcement activity, this may undermine our ability to use those tactics and products in the future. This poses a question, would disclosing the names of the channels that the MPS are working with in order to remove some drill/rap videos, severely compromise and significantly weaken our ability to effectively deal with law enforcement. Let’s consider if I disclose those names of the channels we use, it makes public the methods and/or companies we do work with, which then could narrow down the products and services we are using. This presents a real risk that our capabilities for intelligence collection, development and analysis can be undermined by providing such detail. This highlights our tactics, which in turn could also equip those with malicious intent, to build up a picture of what where the MPS are looking at videos, and other associated information and would enable these individuals to then avoid those specific channels and place their videos or relevant information elsewhere and remain undetected.
This would not be in the public interest, as it could allow offenders knowledge to help evade law enforcement which would encourage more crime to take place, placing the public at an increased risk. If we consider this fact set in the context of the current
threat level, to release this information could be negatively used and harmful.
Trust between the MPS and external organisations - There is a clear expectation that trust must extend to external organisations who are working with the MPS or providing systems used to aid in the removal of some music videos. External organisations must have the confidence to provide systems, share documents, evidence and data which may include information of a sensitive nature, and be assured that they can do so securely. If the MPS release the channels used ‘to reduce the likelihood of threat, harm and risk being generated’, trust and confidence may well be at risk. It is not in the public interest for the MPS to supply a list of avenues used in this endeavours, and risk harming the trust with other organisations.
I have found that there is a clear public interest in providing a greater understanding of what manner of techniques the MPS is reliant upon to inform our decisions, about which videos need to be removed. The MPS want to be as open and transparent as possible and therefore it is imperative that the appropriate information is made available to the public. This should not however, hinder the core functions of the MPS, which is the prevention or detection of crime and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
There is a no doubt that providing the public with a deeper understanding of policing is a good thing. It shows the challenges that the MPS face and how these complexities inform decision making. This must be weighed up against the risk that the data that I release could compromise relationships with external organisations and the overriding fact that to disclose this information would alert individuals to where the MPS are focusing, which in turn would encourage individuals to avoid those channels and place their videos and information elsewhere and remain undetected. This would not prevent crime or help detect crime but rather encourage it, which in turn negatively affects the MPS’s law enforcement function. It is my assessment that the release of this information would do this and therefore the information in relation to question 3 has been withheld by virtue of Section 31(1)(a)(b).
Section 40(2)&(3A)(a) - Personal data – in relation to Q3 - To disclose the list of all those drill/rap music videos removed from YouTube, at the Met’s request, would publicly reveal information about individuals which would contravene Data Protection principles. The Data Protection Act 2018 defines personal data as any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual. There are six data protection principles set out in section 34 of the DPA 2018 and under Article 5(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The first principle requires personal data to be processed in a ‘lawful and fair’ manner. The basis for determining what constitutes lawful and fair is outlined under section 35 of the DPA. Under section 35(2) it states:
- the data subject has given consent to the processing for that purpose, or
- the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for that purpose by a competent authority.
It is important to note that we do not have the consent of the data subjects and the release of the data will not be used for a law enforcement process.
Under Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, the disclosure of personal data is considered to be lawful if:
- There is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of that personal data.
- The disclosure of the personal data is necessary to meet that legitimate interest.
- The disclosure would not cause unwarranted harm to the data subject.
Having considered your request, I have found that the requested information constitutes personal data. By means of a legitimate interest test I have considered the release of the personal data, and I have found that:
- The titles of the videos include the names/nicknames of artists or others from which individuals would be identifiable.
- I have not identified a legitimate interest that would be satisfied through releasing this data.
- Members of the public would not expect that their personal data to be published on the MPS website in response to a FOIA request. The MPS must consider how we process personal data and without their explicit consent, the sharing of their personal data would be harmful, and cause alarm and distress to the data subjects. I therefore find it justified to withhold such data.
Disclosure
- • Financial years have been used in all annual data below and runs from 1 April to 31 March.
- The disclosed information relates to all musical content. The MPS do not record whether the content is specifically from the genre of drill music or rap music as this is a subjective description. However, the majority of musical content would likely be considered as being from the genres of drill/rap/hip-hop and other similar genres and sub-genres of music.
Q1 -The number of drill/rap music videos the Met requested removal of, from YouTube, since September 2020 — broken down by year.
Q2 - The number of drill/rap music videos successfully removed from YouTube, at the Met’s request, since September 2020 — broken down by year.
| April 2020 to March 2021 | April 2021 to March 2022 | April 2022 to March 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referred | Removed | Referred | Removed | Referred | Removed | |
| You Tube | 101 | 99 | 148 | 133 | 367 | 315 |
Q3 - A list of all those drill/rap music videos removed from YouTube, at the Met’s request, since September 2020 — broken down by year.
Withheld – Exempt under Section 40 – Personal Information
Q4 - The number of pieces of drill/rap video content indexed by the Met since September 2020 — broken down by year.
There are currently 417 music videos indexed by the MPS, all of which have been captured within the last 12 months. Unless it is relevant to a criminal investigation, retained material is automatically deleted after 12 months to ensure compliance with both Human Rights and data retention legislation.
Q5 - The names of the “key channels” the Met is working with to reduce the likelihood of threat, harm and risk being generated.
Withheld – Exempt under Section 31 – Law Enforcement
Q6 - The amount of funding secured for the running of Project Alpha, and the source of this funding, since its inception — broken down by year.
The Home Office have provided funding to MPS Project Alpha between 2019 and the current date, as follows:
| April 2018 to March 2019 | £93,885 |
| April 2019 to March 2020 | £1,292,838 |
| April 2020 to March 2021 | £1,746,661 |
| April 2021 to March 2022 | £3,197,167 |
| April 2022 to March 2023 | £3,388,451 |
| April 2023 to March 2024 | £1,418,468 to date |
Q7 - The number of police staff and officers that make up the Project Alpha team – broken down by year since its inception.
The number of police staff and officers funded on Project Alpha each year is as follows, actual numbers of officers and staff in posts fluctuates throughout the year:
| April 2018 to March 2019 | 0 |
| April 2019 to March 2020 | 17 |
| April 2020 to March 2021 | 17 |
| April 2021 to March 2022 | 38 |
| April 2022 to March 2023 | 40 |
| April 2023 to March 2024 | 42 |
Q8 - Please provide percentage breakdowns of age groups (0 to 10, 11 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 30, 30+) and ethnicity data as recorded by Project Alpha officers since February 2023
| Age | %age |
|---|---|
| 0 to10 years | 0.0% |
| 11 to 17 years | 14.8% |
| 18 to 24 years | 38.2% |
| 25 to 30 years | 24.5% |
| Over 30 years | 22.5% |
| Ethnicity | %age |
|---|---|
| White - North European | 21.0% |
| White - South European | 5.7% |
| Black | 60.7% |
| Asian | 9.1% |
| Oriental | 0.4% |
| Arabic/Middle Eastern | 3.1% |