Young men most vulnerable to extremist content, says group

Initiate My project coordinator Hisham Muhaimi said young men had the digital fluency to create violent posts that circumvented the guidelines on social media platforms.

KUALA LUMPUR: Young men between the ages of 18 and 20 are more prone to extremism and produce social media content of such nature, says the Initiative to Promote Tolerance and Prevent Violence (Initiate My), a group that advocates against extremism.

Its project coordinator Hisham Muhaimi said young people who did not receive proper guidance were at risk of being exploited and manipulated by “malicious actors” because they were very impressionable.

He said these creators also took advantage of young adults who were searching for a community they could belong to on social media.

“Young people can be influenced by far-righters, who will use them as a tool to mobilize regressive actions in politics and public space,” Hisham said during a forum titled “Exploring Women’s Rights Within the Framework of Islam & Malaysian Laws”.

Citing a study by Initiate My – which was trained by deradicalised youths – on the trends and dynamics of far-right extremism in Malaysia, he said young men had the digital fluency to create violent posts that circumvented the content moderation guidelines on social media platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.

“Some of these posts don’t necessarily violate the guidelines or promote violence, but when viewed together – the message, music used, nuances – the content can be really dangerous,” he said, noting that such extreme content tends to surge during general elections.

As an example, Hisham said creators had published videos depicting a keris to allude to the May 13 racial riots.

He also expressed concern about an uptick in xenophobia rhetoric towards the Rohingya community from young content creators who compared their struggles with that of Palestinians in the ongoing conflict with Israel.

“We see people drawing similarities between Malaysia and Palestine and saying that Rohingyas are the Israelis of Malaysia.”

Hisham acknowledged that Muslims in the country might feel a moral and religious duty to support the plight of their peers, but he said it did not justify the anti-minority sentiments seen on social media.