SINGAPORE – The virtual world often becomes a “gateway” to youth radicalisation, especially when young people turn to it out of loneliness and an absent sense of belonging, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Faishal Ibrahim said.
Speaking at the annual Youth Forum by non-profit organisation PPIS, the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group and the Ministry of Home Affairs on Nov 29, he said loneliness leads young people to immerse themselves in online communities that provide them with a sense of belonging that they desire.
At the same time, these communities expose them to online extremist content that gives them a sense of purpose, convincing them that they need to resort to violence to correct the injustices in the world, he said.
Associate Professor Faishal, who is also Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, said: “A typical radicalisation process starts with how we define our self-identity, self-worth, meaning and purpose in life; how we digest the information that we are bombarded with on a daily basis.”
“These are some factors which can render us vulnerable to radicalisation,” he said, adding that the virtual world allows youth to adopt any persona they want, be it a fighter or an activist.
To protect oneself from radicalisation, it is important to maintain self-awareness regarding personal values, attitudes, biases and behaviours, as well as be discerning of the information one encounters, Prof Faishal said.
He was speaking to some 200 young people from various institutes of higher learning who attended the forum, held at the Singapore Management University.
His remarks came after
the police issued directions
on Nov 26 to disable the social media accounts of former Singaporean Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff.
The 54-year-old Australian had been making social media posts inciting hatred among different racial and religious groups in Singapore.
In 2016, Zulfikar had been detained under the Internal Security Act for promoting terrorism and online glorification of terrorist group ISIS.
His recent posts include one made on June 19 on TikTok, where he falsely claimed that Malay/Muslims were forced to move away from Islam and assimilate into the Chinese community in Singapore.
Similarly, a video posted on Facebook on July 18 claimed that the Chinese in Singapore were colonial settlers, not migrants, and that Singapore’s ideology had insulted, degraded and oppressed Malays.
“Despite being detained in Singapore previously for glorifying ISIS and radicalising others, his social media content continues to stir up feelings of hostility and ill-will of the different racial and religious groups in Singapore,” said Prof Faishal.
He said the Government decided to act against Zulfikar to prevent vulnerable persons from succumbing to his narratives, and “deter Singaporeans from ‘logging in’ to persons or communities whose ideas confirm negative preconceived biases, (and) consequently ‘tuning out’ more rational, and balanced perspectives”.
Prof Faishal said the online space has enabled those who have constraints pursuing the radical cause in the real world, and facilitated terrorism activities.
He gave the example of how a 17-year-old ISIS supporter who had planned an attack near Tampines West Community Club had used an artificial intelligence chatbot to generate his pledge of allegiance to ISIS, as well as a declaration of armed violence against non-Muslims, to inspire other Muslims in Singapore to do the same. He was arrested in August 2024.
Another 17-year-old youth who had
planned attacks on five mosques
in Singapore had gone online to try and buy guns, and even explored the 3D printing of the gun parts, Prof Faishal said.
In June 2024, the Singaporean teenager had planned to kill at least 100 Muslims in five mosques here, inspired by the 2019 shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 Muslims.
His scheme was thwarted by the Internal Security Department (ISD), which detained him.
Observers said extremist networks in South-east Asia have turned online gaming platforms such as PUBG: Battlegrounds and Roblox into
channels for radicalisation
.
By blending into these environments, they interact with players directly and seed violent or exclusionary ideas in ways that feel casual, masking harmful narratives within ordinary gameplay.
Mr K. Shanmugam, who was then Law and Home Affairs Minister, had said on Oct 18, 2024, following the arrest of the 17-year-old, that several self-radicalised Singaporean youths over the years have been reported to ISD by their families and teachers.
He emphasised that early reporting by the public is critical in protecting society from terror attacks perpetrated by self-radicalised people.
Citing how the parents of the detained 17-year-old youth were aware of his hatred of Muslims and the excessive time he spent online, Prof Faishal also nudged people to report loved ones who might be radicalised to the authorities.
“By taking the courageous step of reporting the radicalised person, we can get him the help he needs and protect society,” he said.