ISD Issues Restriction Order to 14-Year-Old Over Multiple Extremist Beliefs
A 14-year-old Singaporean Secondary 3 student has become the first case of self-radicalisation involving a “salad bar” of extremist ideologies, prompting the Internal Security Department (ISD) to issue him a Restriction Order under the Internal Security Act in September 2025.
Within a year of encountering extremist content online, he absorbed elements from ISIS, far-right and far-left extremism, communism, anti-Semitism, and incel ideology. He idolised figures like Osama bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, and Kim Jong Il while expressing hatred toward women and Jews.
- The boy first encountered far-right content in mid-2024 through online recommendations and consumed violent anti-Semitic material, including the manifestos of far-right terrorists Brenton Tarrant and Anders Breivik.
- In November 2024, he viewed ISIS combat videos and later pledged allegiance to the group, aspiring to join as a fighter.
- By early 2025, he was also influenced by the incel subculture, admiring school shooters and advocating misogynistic views.
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He connected with foreign extremists, including an alleged Iraq-based ISIS supporter who sent him bomb-making manuals. Fortunately, he took no concrete steps to act on these ideas.
Despite supporting both Nazism (anti-communist) and communism (anti-fascist), ISD assessed his grasp of extremist concepts as shallow but concerning.
The boy concealed his activities from his family, using obfuscation tools to mask his digital footprint. His schoolmates, exposed to some of his shared content, did not become radicalised.
ISD will provide religious counselling, psychological rehabilitation, and social support, with community mentorship to ensure his reintegration while allowing him to continue his studies.
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), every child has the right to be protected from all forms of violence, abuse, and exploitation, including harmful radicalisation. Safeguarding vulnerable youths from extremist influence is crucial to uphold this right.
