Danish teens' terror plot highlights online radicalization risks

Online communication platforms, initially designed for gaming and social interaction, are increasingly becoming conduits for extremist ideologies, leading to real-world violence. Three teenagers arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack at Hadsten School in Denmark reportedly used services like Discord and Telegram for their planning.

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My feeling is that what happens is that you are part of some larger environments where you write about computer games, and suddenly some people introduce these ideas via memes, pictures or videos.

Line Nybro Petersen, a media science lecturer at the University of Copenhagen specializing in online extremism, explains that users can be drawn from broader gaming communities into more insular, closed groups. "If the senders discover that others find it interesting, they are drawn over into some smaller, closed groups. And this is where it can escalate to violence, self-harm, or vandalism," she stated.

These platforms often lack robust content moderation and offer encrypted communication, making it difficult to track extremist activities. Examples exist of users engaging in extreme acts, including self-harm and committing crimes for criminal organizations, to gain status within these online hierarchies. Some forums even gamify violence, requiring users to perform real-world violent acts to advance.

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If the senders discover that others find it interesting, they are drawn over into some smaller, closed groups. And this is where it can escalate to violence, self-harm, or vandalism.

Authorities are particularly concerned about Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) networks. These groups are characterized by an extreme fascination with violence itself, rather than a clear ideological agenda. "There is, on the other hand, an extreme fascination with violence. It is the violence that controls the community and guides it," Petersen noted. This fascination extends to "violence aesthetics," such as the depiction of blood, and phenomena like "Saints Culture," where perpetrators of mass violence are glorified.

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There is, on the other hand, an extreme fascination with violence. It is the violence that controls the community and guides it.