Far-right Facebook groups are engine of radicalisation in UK, data investigation suggests

Network exposes hundreds of thousands of Britons to racist language, conspiracy and disinformation, Guardian research indicates

• Inside the everyday Facebook networks where far-right ideas grow

A network of far-right Facebook groups is exposing hundreds of thousands of Britons to racist and extremist disinformation and has become an engine of radicalisation", a Guardian investigation suggests.

Run by otherwise ordinary members of the public - many of whom are of retirement age - the groups are a hotbed of hardline anti-immigration and racist language, where online hate goes apparently unchecked.

Additional reporting by Olivia Lee and Carmen Aguilar Garcia.