Adelaide university research targets young Australians at-risk of being radicalised through online content

Violent far right nationalists, misogynists and conspiracy theorists’ efforts to recruit our kids will be going under a microscope.

Adelaide University is set to develop a program to analyse the digital pathways young Australians are accessing extremist content online, with children as young as 13 years old at-risk of being radicalised.

The program will target violent ideologies of religious groups, far-right nationalists, sovereign citizens, violent misogynist movements and others who operate unimpeded, according to the research team.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Anton Middelberg said the research was vital to understanding the ever-evolving dangers of online networks.

“In an era and landscape where change is inevitable and rapid, advances in our understanding of social networks and the impact of technology are essential to maintain national security,” he said.

“Through the National Intelligence and Security and Security Discovery Research Grants (NISDRG) program, University of Adelaide researchers will contribute to the crucial work of enhancing the nation’s safety and prosperity.”

Funding from the (NISDRG) will see the university Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics receive $782,375 for the project.

Professor Anton Middelberg at Adelaide University. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Naomi Jellicoe

It will be the first national-scale survey that looks into the types of online extremist ideologies that have the potential to target, or are accessible to young people aged between 12 and 17.

Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess has previously said that children as young as 13 are now embracing extremism.

The project’s Chief Investigator, Associate Professor Tim Legrand said the rapid increase of extremism in young people aged between 12 and 17 was due to uncontrolled digital platforms.

“In the unregulated spaces of online digital media, a diffuse array of communities connected to extreme ideologies are increasingly accessible to and accessed by young Australians,” he said.

The research team will interview young people across Australia to better understand the scale of the problem.

“The data we collect will reveal how the influence of online extremist groups is projected, where it is projected, and the pathways young Australians take in internalising or rejecting such ideological influences,” he said.

“Its findings will benefit the policing and security agencies in identifying the pathways of online extremist influence, and identify intervention points for those agencies to curtail the reach and influence of online ideological extremist communities.”

Mr Legrand said the aim of the project was to provide the public with a more informed understanding of the risks in online spaces they access everyday.

It comes as a 14-year-old boy was charged for possession of explosive instructions, information for terrorist acts and extremist material after being arrested by the Counter Terrorism and Security Section detectives on Thursday.

The teenage boy is a threat to the community and has a “certain willingness to perform” terrorist acts, the Adelaide Youth Court heard on Friday.

The 14-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, will remain in custody until another bail hearing next month.

Australia’s general terrorism threat level is currently at ‘possible’, meaning, while the country remained a potential terrorist target, there were fewer violent extremists with the intention to conduct an attack onshore, according to Australian National Security.

Domestically, ideologically motivated violent extremism, particularly nationalist and racist violent extremism remained a threat to Australian security.

However, nationalist and racist violent extremist groups were more likely to focus on recruitment and radicalisation, rather than attack planning.