KUALA LUMPUR: ONLINE gaming platforms have turned into hunting grounds for extremist recruiters targeting children, experts warned, a discovery made after the detention of three minors who were reportedly radicalised online.
International Islamic University Malaysia communications lecturer Dr Shafizan Mohamed said gaming platforms were no longer spaces for only entertainment.
"Features like real-time voice chat and private messages allow conversations to happen privately, often without monitoring.
"This is where grooming can happen," she told the New Straits Times.
The minors were arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) after allegedly being exposed to Islamic State (IS) doctrine through social media and online games.
They were among six people, aged 16 to 21, who were nabbed in a special operation targeting people allegedly linked to IS extremist activities across several states, carried out by the Special Branch between Feb 14 and Feb 15.
The operation was launched simultaneously across the Klang Valley, Johor, Kedah and Terengganu following intelligence gathering and information sharing.
Shafizan said the anonymity of online platforms allowed bad actors to approach children undetected, adding that recruiters often migrated targets to private messaging apps such as Discord, Telegram and WhatsApp, where conversations could escalate towards extremism.
She said emotionally or socially vulnerable youth were at higher risk as they sought a sense of belonging.
"When young people feel lost, they form relationships with people online, especially those who validate them and pay attention to them.
"Any radical ideology introduced by these people can be easily accepted," said Shafizan, who researches the effects of online communications.
Warning signs for parents include sudden secrecy about online activities, changes in language, expressions of hostility towards certain groups and withdrawal from family and friends.
Universiti Sains Malaysia Centre for Policy Research criminologist Datuk Dr P. Sundramoorthy said vulnerable children typically exhibited identity confusion, low self-esteem, perceived injustice and a desire for belonging, factors particularly pronounced during adolescence.
He said the radicalisation process could take weeks to several months, with extremist networks using staged grooming techniques that began with benign content
before progressing to emotional bonding and radical doctrines.
He said detaining children under Sosma rather than the Child Act raised complex criminological and ethical questions.
While acknowledging the state's duty to act on credible threats, he said children in such cases were victims of manipulation rather than willing participants.
"Preventive measures such as Sosma should be invoked strictly as a last resort.
"Over-reliance on security laws risks conflating victimhood with culpability, potentially undermining long-term eradicalisation efforts," he said, calling for rehabilitation over punitive detention.
"Safeguarding public safety must remain paramount, but it should be pursued in a manner that is proportionate, evidence-based and sensitive to the developmental status and rights of the child."
On Sunday, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, the
All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Children's Rights and several civil society organisations condemned the use of Sosma against the minors in this case and called for an immediate moratorium.
On March 6, Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail claimed the rights of the minors were safeguarded by the Child Act and international conventions. - NST
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