Warning Signs of Youth Extremism
Monday, March 23, 2026
Youths are involved in two incidents of extremist terrorism. Prevention requires the involvement of parents and psychologists.
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THE involvement of minors in terror-fueled violence cannot be resolved through conventional means. Deradicalization programs or Internet restrictions are not sufficient for dealing with adolescents involved in terrorist acts. The government, law enforcement institutions included, needs to address the root causes of such perpetrators harboring grudges and being determined to harm others.
A terror incident in which youths were involved occurred in early November 2025. At that time, a student at State Senior High School 72 in Jakarta set up bombs in seven locations, two of which exploded. Explosions, which the perpetrators controlled remotely, injured nearly 100 people. In early March 2026, students at Sungai Raya State Junior High School 3 in West Kalimantan detonated four bombs, injuring one person.
It is possible that other youths could be inspired by such violence. The two perpetrators of the bombing at the Sungai Raya school were inspired by violent and extremist content obtained through a Telegram chat group under the banner of True Crime Community (TCC).
Swift government action is the key to preventing the spread of TCC’s influence. Minors can easily access this community. Groups like TCC, which fall into the category of nihilistic violent extremism (NVE), do not require members to adhere to a specific ideology. Although their primary goal is to seek attention or recognition, they can also endanger national security. As of early March 2026, police estimated that 87 youths have been exposed to TCC’s influence.
The government must ensure that channels and social media with content about violence and extremism are inaccessible to minors. Even so, clear and unambiguous definitions are needed to safeguard freedom of expression. Cooperation with social media platforms is essential to quickly remove such content, to prevent it from spreading and having a negative impact.
Although the government has prohibited children under 16 from having social media accounts, the Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs’ regulation, which took effect on March 28, 2026, is not specific about how social media platforms can go about deactivating the accounts of underage users. That regulation does not yet ensure children’s right to access age-appropriate information.
The government and law enforcers must also work with youths affected by TCC content. The government needs to involve various parties, such as psychologists and parents, to understand the root causes of the problems these minors face. Research shows that adolescents involved in extremism tend to face psychological stress, such as the lack of family attention and being bullied.
The problem cannot be resolved through deradicalization programs, which have tended to prioritize national ideology and used an economic approach. This is also the case with militaristic methods, such as sending youth perpetrators of violence to military camps. It is more appropriate to address the social problems being faced by such youths through the involvement of families and schools, with the assistance of professional counselors, to resolve their root causes.
