Trend of Youths Radicalising via Gaming, Chat and Social Media Platforms

5 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the trends of youths radicalising via gaming, chat and social media platforms; and (b) what are the steps taken to strengthen the tracking and identification of extremist messaging and ideologies on such platforms.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, the number of self-radicalised youths has increased and they are getting younger. From 2007 to 2014, only one self-radicalised youth, aged 20, was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Since 2015, there have been 11 self-radicalised youths aged between 15 and 20 who were detained or issued with Restriction Orders under the ISA. They were exposed to extremist and radical content through a variety of online platforms, including gaming, chat and social media platforms.

The Government has blocked access to some websites that perpetuate extremist messaging and ideologies. Separately, under the amended Broadcasting Act which took effect on 1 February 2023, the Info-communications Media Development Authority can direct social media services to disable access to content instructing or advocating terrorism or violence. As announced during the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI)'s Committee of Supply debate this year, MCI will study further measures to strengthen online safety on other services, including gaming platforms and app stores.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will also be introducing later this year, legislation to combat online criminal harms, which will cover content that incites terror-related activities.

But despite our best efforts, it is not possible to block all extremist content, given the vastness of the Internet. New extremist content and new sites are constantly popping up. Determined individuals will find ways to circumvent our blocking.

We have therefore been working with community partners, such as the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) and Inter-Agency Aftercare Group (ACG), on outreach efforts to strengthen the community's resilience to extremist ideologies.

The public, particularly family members and friends, also play an important role. They can seek help for someone close to them whom they are concerned has been radicalised, or report suspicious behaviour by calling the ISD Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline at 1800-262 6473; or 999; SMS to 7199; or using the "Report" function in the SGSecure app. The identity of the informer will be protected. Early reporting will allow the authorities to intervene quickly to avert a tragedy, including to the radicalised person. If the person is only in the early stages of radicalisation, he or she may simply be referred for counselling and may not need to be detained under the ISA.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Yip Hon Weng.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): I think the Minister of State for his response. Just a short supplementary question. What is MHA's our overall engagement strategy to counter radicalisation especially for youths, for example, by engaging some of the stakeholders. Specifically, can the Ministry give further details of how it is working with families of these youths to prevent radicalisation.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Indeed, MHA, specifically ISD, have been working with other Government agencies and community partners to reach out to different segments in the community, to raise public awareness of the threat of terrorism and online radicalisation. So, such upstream efforts are important, preventing radical ideology on taking root in our society. This is especially important for youths, who are impressionable and more easily influenced.

Like what I shared earlier, we work with community partners, such as RRG and ACG, where they reach out to youths and families to have sessions and forums. They also have visits to the RRG resource counselling centres, we did online engagement during COVID-19 and we also reached out to the youth and families via physical engagements after we have recovered from COVID-19. For example, the RRG arranged a visit to ISD Heritage Centre for 50 youths and we also engage youths of Indian Muslim Social Service Association. When doing these, we also asked the media, we invited the media and we usually have good media coverage to share the messages. We also engage in online engagement.

That is one and we also work with our Government agencies such as the Ministry of Education (MOE) – a key partner of our counterterrorism and counter-radicalisation efforts, where we look at how we collaborate with MOE schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) on such efforts.

For example, in 2022, ISD organised at least 69 counterterrorism and counter-radicalisation outreach events, both online and in-person for more than 2,300 participants, including student leaders, educators and other school staff. We also engage the principals, educators and student leaders and we also work with school counsellors and student welfare officers – as of 2022, over 350 school counsellors and school student welfare officers.

At the end of the day, we will continue this journey. We have been engaging families, youths and as many people as we would like and are able to. Recently, we engaged a group of religious leaders and we are happy that they are more than willing to help us in this effort.

What is key is that, as I shared in the MHA's Committee of Supply, we will continue to enhance our operational capabilities and our outreach efforts. In fact, this Thursday, I am engaging another group of stakeholders as part of the counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation efforts. We hope that more Singaporeans can come onboard this journey and play a part. Most importantly, look out for your family members, look out for your children because today, our children spend a lot of time online and you never know what they come across because self-radicalisation is a process. For some, it can happen quickly, for others, it is a process and it is a journey, but we want their journey to be a positive one and a healthy one.