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Islamist terrorist organisations and their followers are targeting minors
An increasing number of young people in Europe, including minors, are involved in planning, supporting or carrying out Islamist terrorist attacks, or spreading terrorist propaganda.
Islamist terrorist organisations and their supporters use new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to create violent content that appeals to minors. Islamic State propaganda is designed to appeal to young people and is shared on popular social networks such as TikTok and gaming platforms like Roblox. Those who show an initial interest are later invited to closed chat groups on social networks such as Telegram. There, they become radicalised and begin to plan attacks, to identify targets, and look for ways to acquire weapons.
Young people radicalised by Islamist ideology most often target civilians, officials, Christian places of worship, and the LGBT+ community. The conflict between Israel and Hamas has intensified Islamist propaganda, fuelling hostility towards members of the Jewish community among some radicalised young people in Europe. Islamist propaganda glorifies attacks against those who desecrate the Qur’an, resenting them as role models for young people.
| In 2025, Belarusian or Russian intelligence services highly likely attempted to recruit right-wing extremists living in Lithuania via social networks, with an aim of involving them in covert operations against Lithuania. Right-wing extremists were offered financial rewards in exchange for attacking members of the Belarusian community and gathering intelligence. Belarusian and Russian intelligence services and right-wing extremists operating in Western countries have some shared objectives. Both seek to cause panic in Western societies and undermine their trust in government institutions and the democratic system by organising high-profile criminal acts. Therefore, it remains possible that Russian and Belarusian intelligence services will use right-wing extremists living in Western countries to carry out acts of sabotage in the near term. |
In the near term, terrorist propaganda disseminated via social networks and gaming platforms almost certainly will encourage minors to become involved in terrorist activities in Europe. This will be exacerbated by social integration problems among minors, their traumatic personal experiences, and a lack of parental control. Although terrorist organisations will primarily seek to recruit adults capable of carrying out large-scale attacks, they likely will target children and young people to carry out simpler attacks and provide logistical and financial support.
