By: Muhammad Yasin)*
Radicalism is an ideology that must be eradicated by all people, including millennials. With their energy and creativity, young people can be at the forefront of overcoming radicalism.
The younger generation has many opportunities to do many positive things. Not only gatherings for fun, but also helping to prevent the spread of radical ideas that are widely spread through social media. The active role of the younger generation is needed because they are active users of social media.
Why should we eradicate radicalism? Because this understanding is not only dangerous for young people but also for the whole society. Radical groups target social media in spreading their teachings. According to data from the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), 85% of young people are very vulnerable to being exposed to radicalism, while 47.3% of terrorists are from the younger generation.
We certainly don’t want this country to be destroyed in the future because of radicalism and young people as potential leaders are engrossed in planning attacks and bombings instead of studying in class. Therefore, millennials play an important role as eradicators of radicalism to save fellow young people. They can maximize their potential to save this country.
Do not let 100% of the perpetrators of terrorism are from the younger generation because they deliberately do massive cadres and the target is teenagers and students. The cadre is carried out in cyberspace which is considered safer from the monitoring of the authorities. Millennials can be at the forefront to prevent the spread of radicalism among young people with various strategies, as well as utilizing creativity.
First, millennials can counteract radicalism by reporting any social media accounts that are proven to spread hoaxes, propaganda, and radical content. For example, content about jihad is cool, even though the real jihad is making a living for the family, not attacking other innocent parties. Reporting can be to the cyber police or you can click the report button to Facebook or Instagram.
If it is reported to the social media manager, they will consider whether the account can be closed. Young people can invite many people to report accounts belonging to these radical groups because the more people who report, Facebook can delete their accounts. Therefore, this work should be done in groups as solidarity in opposing radicalism.
The second way in countering radicalism that can be done by young people is education about recognizing hoax news. They can provide information that not all news circulating on social media, online media, or broadcasts in WA groups is true. The characteristics of hoaxes are that the media is incompetent and the news always corners the government and uses fake photos.
If more and more people understand that news is a hoax, then they will not be affected by fake news and propaganda that is deliberately spread by radical groups. Young people can be funnels of information that hoaxes are everywhere and we shouldn’t be trapped by them. Filter before sharing a news so as not to fall into a hoax that could be just a fiction from a radical group.
The younger generation is often an easy target for radicalism, so it takes full awareness of millennials who are the nation’s front line to participate in countering radicalism. With the active participation of millennial groups, the prevention of radicalism can run optimally.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute
