Social media fuelling youth radicalisation in Australia

Spy chief says internet a factor in recent cases of terrorism, with AI set to worsen problem

- Jonathan Pearlman

A string of terror attacks or plots have been conducted or exposed in Australia in 2024 and all had one thing in common: The attacker or alleged plotter was a young man aged between 14 and 21 whose online activities were crucial to his decision to carry out an attack.

This worrying trend was revealed in a stark assessment of the risks of social media by Australia's domestic spy chief, Mr Mike Burgess, at a summit on Oct 11, during which he said individuals are now being self-radicalised online in a process that can take days and weeks rather than months and years.

The terror threat in Australia is evolving. A decade ago, the main threat was believed to be extremist Islamist groups such as ISIS as they attempted to recruit Australians to conduct attacks.

But experts say established terror groups are finding it harder to recruit online because of content moderation by social media platforms, and monitoring and disruption by law enforcement agencies.

Instead, young people are being radicalised by extremist, far-right and Islamist online "communities", which often consist of chat groups that are harder to detect or shut down.

Associate Professor Julian Droogan from Macquarie University told The Straits Times that extremist groups are increasingly seeking to create online content such as memes that target young people.

"We have seen an increase in extremism online for a long time in Australia and more broadly," he said. "People are not joining illicit terror groups, but there is a proliferation of online extremist cultures happening."

Prof Droogan admitted that it is hard to know why these online communities appeal to young people, especially as it is difficult to research or interview young people in Australia due to ethical constraints.