Counterterrorism agencies are grappling with a new generation of young people who are consuming ultraviolent content produced by extremist groups and their supporters.

After his arrest, investigators found the 12-year-old had been gorging on videos of decapitation and torture, including 1,739 jihadi videos and bomb-making tutorials.

The boy’s descent began with Quran searches and led to encrypted chats and ultraviolent propaganda from extremist groups like Islamic State. French prosecutor Paul-Edouard Lallois warned he risked becoming a “completely dehumanized soldier.”

Across Europe, minors are increasingly appearing on terror radars, with France’s anti-terror unit charging 19 minors in 2023 alone.

Extremist content is just a click away, with radicalization sometimes beginning through violent pornography or a fascination for gory images, leading to jihadi decapitations.

  • Lifekraft@jlai.luEnglish
    61·
    1 day ago

    Idk about porn but on watchpeopledie there is clearly too much teenager. And there is sadly a lot of content posted by extremist / terrorist organisation like isis or daesh. They are doing it on purpose and are probably ready to discuss with edgy teenager.

    I think kids and teens shouldnt be on internet. Like at all.

  • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.netEnglish
    33·
    2 days ago

    Reading this is like reading anti-drug propaganda from the 90’s. Like, sure there are concerns about young people, especially boys, getting radicalized online. But the coverage is so lurid and skewed that it loses credibility.

  • someguy3@lemmy.worldEnglish
    632·
    2 days ago

    online searches about Islam after an aunt gave him a Quran as a gift, says the boy’s lawyer. From there, more searching, automated algorithms that steer users’ online experiences and the boy’s curiosity ultimately led him to encrypted chats and ultraviolent propaganda pumped out by Islamic State militants and other extremist groups that are worming their way via apps, video gaming and social media into the minds of the very young.

    Headline says porn but the only thing on that is:

    For some kids, the process starts with violent pornography or a fascination for gory images, counterterrorism investigators say. From there, more clicks can lead to grisly murder videos from Mexican drug cartels and ultimately to jihadi decapitations, throat-slitting and torture,

    So I think it’s stupid click bait.

    • Gordon Calhoun@lemmy.worldEnglish
      124·
      2 days ago

      A bit sensationalist, yes. I didn’t read it, but I hope it made some link between the hormone drops associated with shocking imagery and sounds and the cognitive high one receives in response to the ensuing neurosynaptic flood.

      They’re basically addicts with the drugs being manufactured and distributed in-house; all they need is the evermore violent and shocking A/V catalyst to inject the proverbial needle.

  • Eggyhead@fedia.io
    162·
    2 days ago

    This is what you get when parents absent-mindedly assume handing their kid a smartphone when they’re noisy is all it takes to raise them.

    • aceshigh@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      19 hours ago

      100%, parents need to be involved in their kids life now more than ever, not treat them like a roommate. Kids need to be guided not given a phone/tablet to keep busy. But society doesn’t support this kind of parenting.

    • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      31·
      1 day ago

      The mini-series “Adolescence” was spot on about this issue.

      At one point the father says to his wife he thought their son was safe being in his room on the internet … when in reality he was accessing all the dark web abuse he could find.

  • IAmLamp@fedia.io
    3·
    2 days ago

    You needn’t take it any further, sir. You’ve proved to me that all this ultraviolence and killing is wrong, wrong, and terribly wrong. I’ve learned me lesson, sir. I’ve seen now what I’ve never seen before. I’m cured! Praise god!