On The Ground

Battle for young hearts and minds as extremists grow savvy online

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A 17-year-old detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in January last year had begun to walk down the path of radicalisation in 2017 when he was 15 years old, after imbibing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) material online.

Last December, a 16-year-old became the youngest detainee yet to be dealt with under the ISA, and the first to be enthralled by far-right extremist ideology.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 22, 2021, with the headline Battle for young hearts and minds as extremists grow savvy online. Subscribe