Battle for Young Hearts and Minds as Extremists Grow Savvy Online

The Straits Times

22 February 2021

Since 2015, seven of the 53 people that the Internal Security Department picked up for terror-related conduct were aged between 16 and 19. All had been radicalised online and each was a prime target for recruitment by extremists due to their young age, experts said. They noted that extremists have displayed a savvy in tapping online trends and emerging platforms to spread their ideology to young people. For instance, far-right extremists in the West have used chatrooms on messaging platform Discord – popular with young gamers – to spread their message, said Mr Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman, a homeland defence Research Fellow from the RSIS.

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Last updated on 06/05/2021