ISLAMABAD, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani authorities said on Tuesday that terrorists and extremist groups are using online platforms for radicalization targeting vulnerable children, making it a serious digital threat.
Interior Minister of the country's southern Sindh province Zia Ul Hassan Lanjar said that the online radicalization followed a structured pattern, beginning with ideological exposure and gradually progressing to direct psychological manipulation.
"The method included the use of anonymous social media accounts, emotional validation to build trust, repeated exposure to extremist propaganda, and fear-based narratives aimed at creating emotional dependence and a distorted sense of purpose," said the minister.
The minister also called on the local and international social media companies to strengthen compliance measures, including the proactive removal of extremist and hate-based content, shutting down terrorist-linked accounts and proxy networks, and enhancing safeguards to prevent minors from being exposed to violent propaganda.
Underscoring the growing challenge of online radicalization, the minister reaffirmed the state's resolve to protect children, dismantle extremist networks and enforce the law without exception.
Earlier on Monday, the minister, along with other police officials, told media that security agencies had saved a minor girl who was recruited as a suicide bomber by handlers linked to a terrorist network with hate-based and extremist content and subjected to psychological grooming. ■