TikTok and radical Islam: young people in the danger zone!

TikTok and radical Islam: young people in the danger zone!

A new book by Kaltenbrunner and Neuhold sheds a shocking light on how TikTok has become a distribution platform for radical Islamist content. The two authors pretended to be 17-year-olds to demonstrate how TikTok's algorithm confronts users who show an interest in Islam with extremist videos within hours. How vienna.at reports, the book describes failed and successful terrorist plans devised in the name of the Islamic State. The cases include a 14-year-old from Villach who is in custody for a planned attack, as well as a girl from Graz and a young man who targeted a Taylor Swift concert.

Dangerous trends among young people

The problem with converts and their radicalization is alarming. How newsflix.at As an example, there is a Canadian TikToker with over one and a half million followers who shows thousands of videos of young girls converting to Islam under the hashtag #wewokeup. These videos stage a radical change in life: from partying with alcohol to a picture of the ideal Muslim life. This transformation is touted as fulfilling and pure and could have a powerful impact on young users.

In addition, experts, including specialists from the Documentation Center for Political Islam and the Deradicalization Center DERAD, describe how such radicalization occurs. What is particularly explosive is the analysis that political failure plays a role in many Islamist-motivated attacks in Europe. According to Neuhold and Kaltenbrunner, various attacks in cities such as Magdeburg and Vienna could possibly have been prevented through preventive measures. The book contains a 12-point plan against online Islamism, which, among other things, calls for a TikTok ban for under-14s and the monitoring of messenger services.