Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), radical Islamist groups from abroad are increasingly able to reach young people in Germany with their content through social media channels. “AI speeds up radicalization,” explains Jamuna Oehlmann, chief executive of the Federal Association for Religion-Based Extremism (RelEx). While propaganda videos had to be painstakingly produced in the past, today it can be done quickly, cheaply, translated, and tailored to the target audience.
The chatbot is also ready to chat at 3 a.m.
“Young, alone, online” is the classic risk profile of youths who are susceptible to the seemingly simple messages of Salafi preachers and the simulated closeness of chatbots that reinforce their views. A large portion of the AI-generated Islamist material lies just below the criminal-law threshold, according to prevention experts.
Youth are radicalized in weeks in some cases
The use of AI by Islamist extremists and terrorists has created turbo-radicalization that unfolds within a few months, sometimes even weeks, says terrorism expert Peter Neumann of King’s College London. “The lone-wolf phenomenon is tightly intertwined with the rise of digital technologies,” he emphasizes. Retaining security officials’ focus on the online sphere, rather than exclusively on the street, is crucial in his view. States like Austria are already fairly well positioned when it comes to deploying undercover investigators on the relevant platforms. The head of RelEx stresses that AI can be a useful tool in the hands of security agencies—for instance, to detect extremist content more quickly and aid in prosecutions. In prevention work, AI tools can be used for certain purposes, but ultimately radicalization prevention is always also a “relationship task.”
What Islamist extremists win with youths
Islamist influencers and preachers have been trying to lure young Muslims with apparently simple answers to complex questions, usually without backing them up with evidence, reports Sakina Abushi of the ufuq.de association. The strategy often presents itself as if there were “one correct, Islamically proper answer,” for example on topics like homosexuality or everyday questions such as “Can I celebrate birthdays?”
Now, however, increasingly there are countervoices: influencers who label themselves as Islamic religious authorities and advocate progressive views.
