Prevent was set up after the London tube bombings on July 7, 2005 to counter extremism, which in practice usually means white extremists

From the Daily Telegraph, 9 January 2026

Pathways is an interactive game designed for 11 to 18 year-old pupils and funded by Prevent. Young players are directed to help their in-game characters – a white teenage boy and girl – to avoid being reported for “extreme Right-wing ideology” after discussing migration online.

Characters can face extremism referrals if they choose to engage with groups that spread “harmful ideological messages”, or join protests against the “erosion of British values”. Even researching online immigration statistics is portrayed negatively.

Other in-game pitfalls include sharing a video that claims Muslim men, rather than homeless veterans, are being given emergency accommodation. An in-game meter monitors how extreme the character’s behaviour is. Those who “lose” may be given counselling to deal with “ideological thoughts” or referred to an anti-terrorism expert.

The game was developed with Government backing by councils in East Yorkshire over growing concerns about immigration and tensions about migrant accommodation in their communities…

Charlie – described throughout the game using the pronoun “they”, regardless of the gender chosen – is faced with a number of choices, and players make decisions based on multiple-choice questions. These are marked red for bad and green for good.

The first is whether or not to download a video shared on a gaming platform: players are asked to choose between telling an adult; discussing the video to find out more, or sharing it.

Then Charlie, who is outperformed by a black student at college, must decide whether or not to accept his misfortune or blame immigrants for “stealing jobs”.

After this, Charlie comes across a video that claims “Muslim men are stealing the places of British veterans in emergency accommodation” and “the Government is betraying white British people and we need to take back control of our country”.

Charlie can scroll past it or “engage directly with the post”. Choosing to engage leads to the message: “Unfortunately, Charlie didn’t realise that some of the groups they were engaging in were actually illegal.”

He or she can also “find out more about the topic”, but this research is framed negatively. The character is shown being bombarded with research papers, statistics, information about protests and other material regarding the “‘replacement’ of white people”.

After this, he or she continues browsing and encounters “lots of harmful groups who agreed with these sentiments”. The game adds: “Charlie began taking in a lot of harmful ideological messages. In fact, some of the groups were actually illegal.”