INSTAGRAM is becoming the online platform of choice for neonazis seeking to radicalise teenagers, according to Hope Not Hate.

The anti-racist campaign group is warning that the social-networking site is ideal for spreading propaganda because of its focus on visual media and tendency to recommend dubious posts to users.

Chief executive Nick Lowles branded Instagram “a fertile recruitment ground for young neonazis.”

“Its inadequate moderation and worrying algorithm recommendations are child-protection issues that demand urgent action from the platform,” he said.

Hope Not Hate identified two far-right groups — the British Hand and the National Partisan Movement — as having used Instagram to recruit members, while also using encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram to communicate with each other.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, said: “We do not want hate on our platform, and we removed a number of accounts belonging to the British Hand and National Partisan Movement before this report was published.”