By: Linda Permata
Young people have a very important role in fighting the spread of radicalism and terrorism, especially in the digital world and social media, which are the areas they are most familiar with.
Recently, developments in technology, information and communication have made it very easy for people to access or visit the digital world and social media.
In fact, in there it can be a very vulnerable place because it can be very difficult to differentiate between truth and falsehood. In fact, it is not uncommon for people to be manipulated and provoked just because they see a post on social media.
Because of the nature of the digital world which allows anyone, anytime and anywhere to be able to disseminate anything, this often becomes an easy target for propagandist agents who understand radicalism to continue spreading their teachings in order to find sympathizers.
Moreover, when you know that the digital world or social media is a place that young people visit very often, where young people usually tend to be unstable and try to find their identity, then this momentum is also often targeted by propagandists of radicalism and terrorism. .
Head of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (BNPT RI), Commissioner General of Police (Komjen Pol) Prof. Dr. Rycko Amelza Dahniel reminded all parties of the need to continue to raise awareness together in response to the phenomenon of online radicalism which continues to pave the way for ‘lone wolf’ action. This pattern often targets teenagers, children and women, thereby encouraging the increasingly massive digital world, which allows radicalization to be created.
This phenomenon can be overcome by continuing to build public awareness together through efforts to fight radicalism and terrorism in the digital world. The main aim of this effort is for society to have self-resilience so that it can avoid various teachings that conflict with the nation’s ideology.
Meanwhile, the Director of Prevention at BNPT RI, Irfan Idris, admitted that his party continues to strive to educate the public so that they are able to filter and respond to the emergence of various types of content that contain radicalism and are often presented in cyberspace.
According to him, all components of the nation from all levels of society must be digitally savvy so that they can filter all narratives on social media. In line with this, the government also continues to strive to educate the public to be more aware of technological developments and information advances.
Therefore, all forms of radical content in the digital world must receive very serious attention from many parties. Because, if it continues to be ignored, the content will have an impact on damaging vulnerable groups such as women, children and teenagers.
In an effort to stem the spread of radical content that continues to penetrate social media which carries messages of violence and divides the nation, the synergy of all parties is important in voicing national values.
Until now, the ideology or ideology of radicalism continues to be a very real threat to the survival of the Indonesian nation and state. Moreover, with the use of sophisticated information technology, the target for spreading this understanding is now targeting the younger generation who are very familiar with the internet.
Regarding Generation Z today, radical groups continue to use the internet and social media to launch various kinds of radical ideas so that they can be more widely reached.
Usually young people who are most easily exposed to the teachings of radicalism are those who have just studied religion and there are other factors such as they really want to show their existence.
By continuing to spread various jihadist movements through social media, especially by using an ethos to fight oppression against Muslims, this usually makes it much easier for the younger generation to be attracted.
The existence of social media has clearly made the process of radicalism increasingly shift, where they often make it very easy for people to join via social networks. Because this allows radical groups to continue to move against multiculturalism groups.
There must be education and increased insight for young people so that they can better understand the dangers of radicalism, considering that the spread of ideologies that are contrary to the nation’s noble values is very massive among young people on social media.
If the young people who are the next generation of the nation receive the right education, then it is not impossible that these young people can also become the front guard in providing education to their peers and also create a lot of content on social media or the digital world to fight back and ward off radicalism.
*) Socio-Cultural Observer
