A Supplementary Intervention to Deradicalisation

Abstract

With today's technological advancements, common online platforms, such as Gmail, forum, websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, are used by millions to communicate and share information in the form of text, image or both with varying synchronicity. In a similar way, violent extremists are also bringing their radical agenda online. As more individuals become radicalised by online violent extremist propaganda, the need to counter such propaganda and manage existing threats, such as incarcerated detainees who are more technology-savvy, becomes increasingly urgent. This chapter propounds the idea of online deradicalisation. First, the online milieu and its concomitant social phenomena will be discussed. Second, an overview of existing elements of deradicalisation and its target audience will be covered. Third, the chapter will delve into online psychotherapy and its potential applicability to deradicalisation. Last, the chapter will conclude with relevant implications and future research directions.