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The violent extremism landscape is fluid and complex and new threats are constantly emerging and becoming new focus areas of academic research. While a relatively new area and statistics are yet to be determined we do know that extremists can exploit the internet to target people with their ideologies and recruit them to their cause. They use a variety of tactics to manipulate individuals and lure them into their extremist beliefs. For parents it’s vital to be aware of the ways in which extremists can target people online and how best keep our most vulnerable safe from predators.
It's important to be aware of these tactics and to be vigilant when using the internet. By educating ourselves and others about these tactics, we can help prevent extremist ideologies from spreading online.
Step Together spoke with two academics from Charles Sturt University on the issue to get a better understanding on the latest developments in this space.
Dr Kristy Campion is a Senior Lecturer in Terrorism and Security Studies, and Australia's leading expert on right wing extremism and terrorism. She started in this field in 2012 as part of the generation that grew up under the auspices of the War on Terror.
Dr Emma Colvin is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Criminology in the Centre for Law and Justice at Charles Sturt University. Her research explores different aspects of access to justice for vulnerable/marginalised groups.
K: There wasn't a lot of support for right wing research or even interest, to be honest. And then the horrific attack occurred in Christchurch in 2019 and suddenly there was awareness, and this research now has real world significance… Australia is in a really dynamic place in terms of extremist ideologies. We are seeing relatively new and contradictory ideologies emerging and these ideologies are supporting violence against other people in our community. These are ideologies that we need to understand and work towards. Some of these ideologies can be deceptive in that they present as one thing but may really be another. Some experts are calling this phenomena ‘fused extremism’ or ‘salad bar ideologies,’ which is essentially where you might have an individual who's adopted all these different beliefs about the world and about the people in their communities. And none of those beliefs make any sense. They can form a complex mix of ideas that ultimately shape how an individual sees the world. When such individuals see the world as broken or decaying or damaged and they start to think that the only solution to fixing it is violence, then we've got an ideology that can potentially cause harm in our communities.
One of the things that we can draw a line between is the lone actor who might receive assistance or support from someone in the community and someone who's actually part of a movement and they represent quite different threats. A movement's is going to have more resources, more personnel, a greater capacity to undertake a complex operation. However, the movement less reactive, in that the movement attempts to control its members through internal constraints. Lone actors are a bit more unpredictable because there's no internal handbrake there. There's no friend or group or movement saying, hey, we think violence is actually a bad move. So the lone actors can be extremely violent and we have witnessed that over the past decade.
E: What we know from previous research into how children are exploited – whether into ideological causes, criminal offending or both, is that vulnerable young people are targeted – e.g. children who are marginalised, children who are criminalised.
K: When it comes to the recruitment question…I think this comes down to the community. In the extreme right, they often recruit online, sometimes via encrypted social media via gaming chats via forums… They are digital natives. They use the same technology that we use all day, every day and we should be expecting that they're going to use that technology to serve their ends. But on the other side of recruitment question is the offline dynamic, which is meeting people, making friends, engaging in extracurricular activities. The role of community is essential because, for as long as we have researched the organized extreme right, we have seen them deliberately creating community events, and they do that because they want to keep people in their community.
E: children who may feel marginalised or ostracised and are looking for something to belong to – attachment theory in psychology provides some understanding of the impact of childhood trauma, e.g. abuse, neglect, removal from family, on a child. This can leave them vulnerable to predatory adults looking to exploit/recruit etc.
E: There may be many young people who are groomed into ideologies but taking action is a different step. Also, we still don’t know how important the ideology itself is in recruitment. This is something Kristy and I are interrogating in our new work. Essentially, can children really hold strong ideological beliefs in their own right and not just be parroting what an adult has indoctrinated them into? As a society we don’t believe that children hold strong enough political beliefs to vote – so how can they be seen to genuinely be holding ideological beliefs of their own…
K: gaming is not necessarily far right. So I would say the point in which you probably should start being concerned is when the gaming becomes something that's not just about the game, it's not just about shooting zombies: it becomes political or it starts to lead to hate speech. Young gamers might become quite targeted towards members of their own community, and also towards people who they believe shouldn't be in their community… It's not necessarily the gaming content or the even the gaming culture itself, but it's the deviations from that culture. With respect to the rabbit hole, we need to consider if someone wandered down it accidentally versus being deliberately led. I would say the distinction lies with who exactly is leading you down that particular path.
E: I think there needs to be ongoing education on online safety for parents, teachers and children. Parents need to have an idea of what their child is doing online and who with. This can be tricky to manage but open conversations with children and encouraging honesty can help. However, underlying vulnerability of children is really what needs addressing – preventing predatory adults from recruiting children needs to be a focus.
K: Try and see what they are seeing. Sometimes it will give you insight into something they're struggling with, like if they're trying to make sense of their place in the world. Knowing what your child is doing online and who they're doing it with is essential to any child’s safety. That assists of course, not just with terrorism and extremism, but with other online and offline threats. Beyond that, it's also about recognising that kids can be curious…they're trying to learn about the world and they're getting so much information from so many different sources… sometimes they might end up on the wrong side of the Internet, in the wrong forums, in the wrong web chats. And I think that's when you need to start having some conversations and seeking some further information.
The internet provides a wealth of information and entertainment, but it also comes with risks. Here are some tips to help keep your kids safe online:
Keeping your kids safe online requires diligence and effort, but it's an essential part of being a responsible parent. By establishing rules and guidelines, educating your kids, using parental controls, monitoring social media use, keeping devices in public areas, staying involved, and modeling responsible behavior, you can help keep your kids safe and protected in the digital age.
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