Nihilistic violence adds to S-E Asia's youth radicalisation concerns

Instead of a cause, these youth are driven by alienation and online content

- Hariz Baharudin

Police officers at a mosque within the SMAN 72 High School in north Jakarta, which was bombed on Nov 7, 2025. Close to 100 people were injured in the attack, which was classified as "memetic violence" - a copycat of extremist attacks, minus the ideological motives. PHOTOS: REUTERS

(REUTERS)

Unlike traditional extremists, nihilists do not have a cause they just want to watch the world burn.

As Indonesian police pieced together the events behind November's bombing at a mosque within the SMAN 72 High School in north Jakarta, what stood out to them was the lack of a motive.

While the act, which left close to 100 people injured, looked like a typical terrorist attack, Indonesian authorities had to resist the typical terrorism classification.

The bombing was later classified as "memetic violence" a copycat of extremist attacks, minus the ideological motives.

Terrorism experts call this nihilistic violence.

"The main motivation is hatred of humans or society in general and the desire for violence itself... The goal is not to change the social system... but rather, to express hatred and destruction or to seek fame through violence," said Mr Muh Taufiqurrohman, a senior researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalization Studies.

He said that nihilistic violence is very different from traditional extremist movements anchored in religion or politics, which are already a youth problem in Southeast Asia.

The Indonesian high school attack suspect was believed to be in a Telegram channel where members shared violent content and discussed past attacks, including the 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in the United States.