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Leaked British Home Office documents identify UK-based Muslim news outlet 5Pillars as one of the country’s “higher-profile Islamist extremist groups” operating on X, according to an October 16 report by journalist Steven Edginton. The assessment emerged months after the outlet secured interviews with Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney and senior Green Party politicians.
According to Edginton, the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) classified 5Pillars as “of Islamist Extremist Concern.” It accused the outlet and associated journalists of downplaying the March arson attack on four Jewish ambulances outside a synagogue in London’s Golders Green neighborhood, “emphasising the lack of fatalities and implying Islamophobic bias” in reactions to the attack. The assessment reportedly examined the social-media activity of editor-in-chief Roshan Muhammed Salih and correspondent Robert Carter.
In February, 5Pillars interviewed Green Party leader Zack Polanski, deputy leader Mothin Ali and parliamentary candidate Hannah Spencer. The party later deleted an X post promoting the interview after Jewish News questioned the association. A spokesperson said the politicians had spoken with people seeking interviews at a campaign event. Swinney was interviewed in June, Edginton reported.
The scrutiny predates the leak. Lord Walney’s May 2024 independent review described 5Pillars as a British Islamist outlet and cited allegations that it supported a caliphate, Sharia penal codes and physical jihad, alongside intimidation of liberal Muslim activists, drawing on a 2017 analysis by counter-extremism campaigner Sara Khan.
Journalists’ Links to U.S.-Sanctioned Press TV
Salih previously served as head of news at the London operation of Iran’s Press TV, according to his biography. UK records show he controls at least 75% of 5Pillars Media Ltd’s shares and voting rights. In a 2009 Guardian article, he declared, “I stand by Press TV,” calling Iran’s government “a fundamentally decent government run by a fundamentally decent man.” Another senior 5Pillars journalist, Robert Carter, was identified as a Press TV journalist in a 2021 letter published by 5Pillars.
British regulator Ofcom fined Press TV £100,000 in 2011 over an interview with imprisoned journalist Maziar Bahari obtained under duress and revoked its UK licence in 2012 over the location of editorial control. In 2023, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the broadcaster, citing its forced-confession broadcasts and use by Iranian intelligence to recruit sensitive assets.
Jewish Onliner recently documented Sovereign Media founder Ahmed Kaballo’s own Press TV background. A November 2017 Iranian report, citing Press TV’s public relations department, named Kaballo and Salih as co-producers of The Big Conversation, a weekly London-produced program for the Iranian broadcaster.
Other Iranian state-media operations in Britain are facing renewed scrutiny. On October 15, The National reported that Conservative shadow Home Office minister Alicia Kearns had referred the UK arm of Iran’s HispanTV to police over alleged violations of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. Its director, Seyedmehdi Mirtaleb, previously worked at Press TV in London.
Years of Featuring Hizb ut-Tahrir Officials
5Pillars repeatedly featured Abdul Wahid, also known as Wahid Shaida, a former UK executive chairman of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which Britain proscribed as a terrorist organization in January 2024. Dilly Hussain, the deputy editor of 5Pillars, interviewed Wahid in 2013 about the Arab Spring and an Islamic caliphate. Hussain interviewed Wahid again in April 2020 on “COVID-19 panic in Muslim communities.“ A May 2023 column identified his Hizb ut-Tahrir leadership.
In November 2023, Hizb ut-Tahrir itself reported that Wahid spoke at a 5Pillars Muslim unity event and promoted the address with #ArmiesToAqsa. In August 2026, more than two years after proscription, 5Pillars republished a Wahid article, describing him only as a Muslim activist, without mentioning his former Hizb ut-Tahrir leadership.
The outlet also hosted a November 2015 forum attended by more than 240 people, featuring Hizb ut-Tahrir representative Taji Mustafa and CAGE’s Moazzam Begg. As Jewish Onliner previously reported, a 2003 U.S. military assessment described Begg as a “confirmed member of al-Qaida” and alleged he had instructed recruits at an al-Qaeda-supported training camp. Salih separately interviewed senior Muslim Brotherhood official Essam el-Erian in Cairo in 2013. In December 2024, Hussain attended a media briefing with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously led al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, alongside journalists from other international outlets.
Interviewee Named in Terrorism Cases
During a November 2024 visit to Bangladesh, Hussain interviewed Asif Adnan, discussing his past terrorism charges. Police had arrested Adnan in 2014 over alleged links to Ansarullah Bangla Team, a jihadist group associated with al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. A 2015 charge sheet, examined by The Daily Star, alleged a militant recruiter planned to send him through Turkey to Syria. In July 2025, Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Unit named Adnan among six suspects in a separate case involving alleged Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan ties.
Regulator Found Discriminatory Content
Press regulator Impress issued two adverse findings against 5Pillars in 2024. In May, it found a Blood Brothers interview with far-right activist Mark Collett breached its discrimination code. In November, it upheld a Community Security Trust complaint over an interview with former Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen, finding that antisemitic conspiracy claims had aired without sufficient challenge.
The complete leaked RICU documents, including the evidence and methodology behind its assessment, have not been publicly released.