Today-Feb 22
Online gaming channels have become an easy target for extremist groups to radicalize and sometimes recruit young people, terrorism researchers and analysts said. It is also difficult to control such channels and online sites, which makes family and community support crucial in combating radicalization through such means, they added. Mr Muhammad Saiful Alam Shah Sudiman, an associate research fellow with the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), said that online gaming platforms such as Roblox and Discord have become more popular as a tool to radicalize and recruit the young because of its global reach and rapid means of communication. Fellow researchers at RSIS said that online platforms can do more to protect users and prevent the online spread of terrorism content.
Associate research fellow Ahmad Saiful Rijal Hassan and research analyst Ahmad Helmi Mohamed Hasbi said in a joint response to TODAY: “Internet service providers can and should always examine their community guidelines, policies and practices to ensure the safety of their audiences, such as the creation of a reporting mechanism.” They were commenting after the Internal Security Department (ISD) revealed that there were two new cases of teenagers who were self-radicalized through online gaming platform Roblox and instant messaging social channel Discord, which is popular among gamers. On the trend of online gaming spaces being exploited by terror groups as a tool of influence, Mr Saiful from RSIS, who is also a volunteer religious counsellor with the Religious Rehabilitation Group, said that these sites are difficult to control and regulate.
