NSW’s Youth Justice Specialist Support Unit has charted a rapid shift from religious fanaticism to a more broad form of extremism.
Senior manager Stephen Barracosa told the Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion it was shaped by increasingly mixed extremist content delivered to teens online.
“It's hard to ignore the role of the internet and the proliferation of extremist content for the process of youth radicalisation,” he said on Tuesday.
“In recent years, nihilistic violent extremism has become a bit of a catchcry for misanthropic, violent, gore, objectionable spaces online, where meshed ideas are mixing together in quite incoherent ways.”
It was near-on inevitable young Australians would cross paths with harmful and offensive materials, Barracosa said.
Younger Australians faced greater developmental vulnerabilities to extreme influences, he said.
“Unfortunately, it feels we're living in a rather complex, divisive, provocative, and emotive socio‑political climate, which must be incredibly difficult for younger, increasingly vulnerable cohorts to navigate,” he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Australia's counter-terrorism chief locked kids’ gaming in his sights, looking to meet at-risk youth where they are.
Brendan Dowling said social media already constituted a key frontier for counter-extremism efforts, but gaming was also a priority.
It marked a rare public appearance for Australia's counter-terrorism co-ordinator, appointed to the role in May after the commission's interim report recommended the role was made permanent.
“In previous iterations of addressing extremist content on social media platforms, gaming hasn't featured very prominently,” he said
One pilot program aimed at redirecting social media users from extremist content to its own resources and case handlers is tapped for an expansion into gaming.
“Considering the level of concerning activity we see on gaming platforms, we're very keen to work with programs like Roblox to try and reach that audience,” Dowling said.
“We know as a platform where there is a lot of user-generated content, the risk of violent extremist material or communications is very real.”
Among wider recommendations, he suggested the government explore a public-facing gaming scorecard grading developers' action against extremist content.
Dowling also suggested the government pursue further measures to limit social media harms to youth and improve digital literacy and critical thinking education in the context of radicalisation.
AAP
