Assessing The Roles Of Social Media In Youth Radicalization

The phenomenon of violent extremism is growing day by day around the world. There is of course a plethora of research on youth radicalization in recent years. However, as most of the research has focused on the source and content of radical messages, a key missing element has been understanding the dynamics that take place at the very end of the communication chain — that is, how young people actually receive and perceive messages, and what conditions make them more receptive to extremist recruiting.

- S. M. Rayhanul Islam

Do social media lead vulnerable individuals to resort to violence? Many people believe it does. And they respond with online censorship, surveillance and counterspeech. But what do we really know about the Internet as a cause, and what do we know about the impact of these reactions? Understanding the process of radicalization, rather than the content of the ideology, is thus crucial for developing effective interventions to disrupt those processes. The UNESCO publication titled “Youth and Violent Extremism on Social Media – Mapping the Research” provides a global mapping of research (mainly during 2012-16) about the assumed roles played by social media in violent radicalization processes, especially when they affect the young people and women. The research responds to the belief that the Internet at large is an active vector for violent radicalization that facilitates the proliferation of violent extremist ideologies. While Internet may play a facilitating role, it is not established that there is a causative link between it and radicalization towards extremism, violent radicalization, or the commission of actual acts of extremist violence.