Trend More people sliding into online extremism, reaching younger ages

Summary

The report sees more and more people sliding into online extremism. The digital space keeps expanding and reaches ever younger audiences. On online platforms such as Roblox, children and teenagers also come into contact with networks holding extreme and violent ideas, or are recruited for jobs in the criminal world. Fuelled partly by the war in Gaza, many pupils and students hold strong opinions about Jews or Muslims, and conspiracy theories can stoke antisemitic and anti-Islam thinking. The report adds that such thinking can cause conflicts and broken relationships within families and circles of friends, which in turn harms people's health. The report treats the drift into extremism as one of several structural consequences of belief in alternative truths.