The Five Eyes multinational intelligence sharing network has sounded an unprecedented alarm about the threat of young people being radicalised by extremist online content, as authorities warn Australian children as young as 12 are at risk of becoming terrorists.
In a first-of-its-kind intervention, security and law enforcement authorities from Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand said in a joint paper that they were battling to combat an alarming rise in young people who support extremist causes or plan terrorist attacks.
Twenty per cent of ASIO’s priority counter-terrorism cases now involve people under the age of 25.Credit: Matt Davidson
Mike Burgess, the director-general of domestic spy agency ASIO, said that around one in five of ASIO’s priority counter-terrorism cases now involve young people.
“In every one of the terrorist attacks, disruptions and suspected terrorist incidents in Australia this year, the alleged perpetrator was a young person,” Burgess said.
“As a parent, the numbers are shocking; as an intelligence officer, the numbers are sobering.”
A “whole-of-society response” will be needed to keep citizens safe, the Five Eyes report said, as the joint chiefs of intelligence urged parents, teachers, healthcare and social workers to be alert for any signs of radicalisation among young people.
ASIO’s director-general of security Mike Burgess said he was alarmed by the rising number of young people being radicalised online.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
In a bid to raise awareness about the threat, the authorities released previously secret details about minors charged with terrorist offences, including Australian teenagers who threatened to carry out school shootings and advocated race-based attacks.
The authorities presented a case study of a 16-year-old Australian who advocated attacks on people of a non-white appearance and urged others to prepare for an upcoming race war to “defend the white race”.
“This included discussing carrying out a mass killing offshore, posting about live-streaming a shooting on Facebook, requesting assistance in bomb-making, praising mass shooters and suggesting the targeting of ‘high-profile enemies’,” the paper says.
Investigators found the teenager was socially isolated, with few real-world relationships.
The risk of violence was so serious that authorities charged the minor with advocating terrorism and urging violence against members or groups.
The teenager was sentenced to an 18-month term of imprisonment and later released into the community on an interim control order.
In a separate case, authorities discussed a 14-year-old in Australia who said on SnapChat that they planned to conduct a school shooting at their high school and had access to firearms and explosives.
Authorities searched the home of the child, who had a history of racism towards Asian and Indigenous people, seizing a tactical vest, ballistic helmet and extremist drawings.
The child was charged with advocating terrorism and using a carriage service to make threats and sentenced to a good behaviour bond.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said he was concerned by the increasing number of children being investigated by the joint counter-terrorism teams, which comprise federal and state police as well as ASIO.
Since the start of 2020, counter-terrorism teams have investigated and conducted operational activity against 35 individuals aged 17 years or younger, with the youngest aged 12 years old, he said.
More than half of the young people investigated have been charged with either federal or state offences, Kershaw said.
Kershaw said that propaganda videos shared on platforms such as Discord, Telegram and TikTok were a major cause of concern.
Law enforcement sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said the 12-year-old’s disturbing behaviour was disrupted before it became dangerous, with interventions put in place to prevent further radicalisation.
The Albanese government last week passed legislation to enforce a minimum age limit of 16 years for social media, saying regulation was needed to protect young people from online harm.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with a terror offence after allegedly stabbing a bishop at Wakely, in south-west Sydney, during a live-streamed church service in April.
In their joint paper, the Five Eyes authorities said that “we are increasingly concerned about the radicalisation of minors, and minors who support, plan or undertake terrorist activities”.
“Violent extremist content is more accessible, more digestible and more impactful than ever before,” the authorities said.
“Where minors are socially isolated, the online environment can provide a key social outlet, which can make them more vulnerable to radicalisation.”
The authorities said: “While the proportion of young people and minors within our respective counter-terrorism cohorts fluctuates over time, our nations have seen a rising prominence of young people and minors in counter-terrorism cases over the last few years.
“Many of those who are investigated as minors are also investigated into adulthood due to their violent extremist ideology.”
Burgess and Kershaw warned in a joint appearance in April that the rise of artificial intelligence and encrypted messaging was creating new national security risks.
“Some of our children and other vulnerable people are being bewitched online by a cauldron of extremist poison on the open and dark web,” Kershaw said.
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