About us
Research, Information and Communications Unit
The Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) is a counter-terrorism strategic communications unit. It exists to ensure that the Government has a positive impact in its counter terrorist communications, and to both counter the impact of terrorist communications directly, and assist others in doing so.
RICU is structured to enable a more seamless local, national and international approach to counter terrorist messaging. That is why it is owned jointly by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It is based in the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism in the Home Office.
Our responsibilities
We report to the three Secretaries of State for our parent Departments.
The purpose of RICU is to ensure that the UK Government communicates effectively
in order to reduce the risk of terrorism, by:
- Advising CONTEST partners on counter-terrorism related communications
- Exposing the weaknesses of violent extremists’ ideologies and brand
- Supporting credible alternatives to violent extremism
We do this by bringing together public-facing delivery teams and a supporting audience research and knowledge team. The delivery teams are responsible for:
- National and Local communications: ensuring that at all levels, from police officers in Britain's streets, to military officers in Afghanistan, to the Prime Minister’s statements in the House, that our language and messages achieve the best possible impact, across the width and breadth of our audiences.
- Interventions: taking advantage of opportunities to put in front of our key audiences information that weakens the terrorists and their ideology or strengthens credible alternatives
- Campaigns: developing longer-term messaging projects designed to have strategic impact, in particular on our hard to reach audiences
The analysis team supports these outward facing teams and wider stakeholders by considering the communications implications of emerging counter-terrorism issues, and how they can be used to deliver our objectives.
The research and knowledge team ensures that RICU has an evidence-base, including commissioning audience research, managing the unit’s knowledge and monitoring the media. RICU also has a unique group of cross-cutting specialist advisors who provide professional insight into issues. They include Islamic issues advisors, an audience insight specialist, creative and digital media experts and a media advisor.
