Extremist propaganda and radicalisation efforts are often targeted at young people around the world — and Singapore has not been spared. There have also been visible instances of women’s radicalisation and active roles in terrorism. The detention of the first female Singaporean, Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari, for radicalisation serves as a timely reminder that more pro-active measures are needed to counter the threat of radical extremism, especially strategies to address problematic youth interactions online.

With digital technology and social media, extremist narratives are easily made available across mobile Internet platforms and accessible to all age groups. Youths, being the most active media consumers, are the most vulnerable as they are exposed to a myriad of influences including religious extremism. The rise in extremist rhetoric on social media and encrypted mobile-messaging platforms indicates that the virtual domain has become a prized choice for extremist communication.

… Remy Mahzam is an Associate Research Fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), a unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.