Keep an eye on right-wing extremism

A 16-year-old male Singaporean, a Secondary 4 student at the time,

was issued with a restriction order

– which obliges him to observe several conditions – under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in November 2023. According to the Internal Security Department, investigations found that he had been radicalised by online far-right extremist propaganda. Although of Chinese ethnicity, the youth identified as a white supremacist, and aspired to conduct attacks overseas to further the white supremacist cause. The youth is the second Singaporean to be dealt with under the ISA for being radicalised by far-right extremist ideologies.

It is most disturbing that a 16-year-old Singaporean should fall prey to far-right extremist propaganda that espouses white supremacist, anti-Islam, xenophobic and anti-immigration beliefs. This shows the global scope of harmful online propaganda targeted at the demographic and cultural fears of white people that promotes an intense hatred of communities including African Americans, Arabs, and LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) individuals. The youth identified so deeply with the hatred that he was prepared to be recruited for violent attacks by white supremacist groups overseas to fight for white people. The pattern is similar to the extranational attraction exercised by extremist religious outfits that exploit faith-based affiliations among impressionable members of the religious community worldwide.