Youth and Violent Extremism Online: Countering Terrorists Exploitation and Use of the Internet

The fight against violent extremism and terrorism has taken a technological turn. In the age of instant gratification, terrorists use the internet as a propaganda tool to recruit, disseminate, mobilize and train people to perpetrate crimes. Although many extremist groups are ideologically and strategically anti-social media, some maintain a strong presence on this platform either directly or through supporters. Youth and Violent Extremism Online examine how terrorists use the Internet to disseminate propaganda and radicalize new recruits. In this anthology encompassing various topics, the author sports a mix of academia and practical experience, all seeking to examine, understand, and offer solutions for society to cope with an ever-changing phenomenon. Acts of terrorism worldwide have challenged our ability to understand the radicalization phenomenon and, most importantly, to generate the knowledge needed to make sense of such acts and to prevent them. Research has become a valid tool for understanding radicalization, constructing collective intelligence, and taking practical steps so as to enable sharing of expertise on this topic. One such area of knowledge-building is the investigation of the role of internet, and social media in particular, in violent radicalization processes and terrorism. This study adopted a robust approach of systematic literature search using the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic and MetaAnalysis (PRISMA) principles for literatures review studies. The paper therefore presents some unique findings on how violent extremism purposely targeting youth online can be curtailed. The results show that terrorists have used the internet particularly social media sites such as Facebook, twitter, video games and dedicated websites to radicalize, recruit and train young people