Washington, April 4. Several terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State (ISIS), have exploited social media's low-cost, fast, and globally connected platforms for ideological propaganda, recruitment, mobilization, and executing terror attacks.
Through these platforms, the terror groups propagate extremist ideology, aiming for mass radicalization by employing "emotional and psychological manipulation" to influence children as young as 12, according to a report released on Saturday.
"Cyber-enabled terrorism has become a critical national security issue for countries in the Indo-Pacific region, especially in India's Jammu and Kashmir, the wider Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia, where end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms and online recruitment have connected a substantial percentage of Muslim youths to Islamist terror networks," a report by the Gatestone Institute, a New York-based think tank, detailed.
"Those who promote radical content have overtaken the non-confrontational format through memes, commentary video reels, and influencer content. Extremist propaganda is being repackaged in local languages. Algorithms on these social media platforms serve as amplifiers for radical content. This has led to what is known as 'self-radicalization,' which in turn has given rise to 'lone wolf' attackers who carry out political violence without direct support or instruction from an established terrorist network," it added.
According to the report, in the Indo-Pacific, ISIS, its sympathizers, and other fringe groups are leading such campaigns.
It highlighted that this pattern was evident in both the December 14, 2025 attack on Bondi Beach in Australia and the November 10, 2025 attack on the Red Fort in New Delhi, India, where social media platforms were "systematically weaponized" to radicalize individuals in carrying out terrorist attacks.
Although disguised as individual efforts, the attacks were systematically orchestrated.
Citing media reports, it further said that 54 per cent of terrorism-related arrests in Malaysia are linked to support for the Islamic State through online platforms. The Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) has leveraged Malaysia's digital landscape to spread radical ideology throughout Southeast Asia.
In Indonesia, the National Counter-Terrorism Agency recorded more than 180,000 items of extremist content circulating online in 2024.
"Pro-ISIS media networks, such as the At-Tamkin Malay Media Foundation, have apparently been using digital platforms to incite violence and recruit supporters. In February 2024, the Al-Aan Foundation created a recruitment video openly calling on Malaysians to "rise up" for oppressed Muslims. In Indonesia, around 181 terror-linked non-profit organizations are known to channel money to these groups," the report noted.
Raising concerns over online radicalization, the report said, "At the global level, countries with similar concerns need deeper cooperation with intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and stronger collaborative efforts that cut across government agencies, non-governmental organizations, tech companies, and civil society organizations."