Internet seen a growing weapon in Asian radicalization

SYDNEY (Reuters)

Extremist groups in Southeast Asia are increasingly using the internet and social networking to radicalize the youth of the region, said a new security report released Friday. Internet usage in Southeast Asia has exploded since 2000 and extremist groups have developed a sophisticated online presence, including professional media units.

“For extremist groups in our region, the internet is an increasingly important tool for recruitment to violence,” said the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.“Importantly, they aren’t attacking only the West, but are drawing on their narrative to attack the governance arrangements of regional states,” said the report titled “Countering internet radicalization in Southeast Asia” ( www.aspi.org.au/).The report said online extremism first appeared in Southeast Asia in early 2000, particularly in the Bahasa Indonesia and Malay language cyber-environment.The Philippines, which has a Muslim insurgency, has seen internet usage rise to 14 million from 2 million in 2000, Malaysia 14.9 million from 3.7 million and Thailand 8.5 million from 2.3 million in the same period.One of the first appearances of a “tradecraft manual” was in August 2007 in the then forum, Jihad al-Firdaus. The forum had a section on electronic jihad, including several hacking manuals. In 2008 the region’s first sophisticated bomb-making manual and bomb-making video were posted on the Forum Al-Tawbah, which is registered in Shah Alam, Selangor and Malaysia, said the report.