EU intends to increase pressure on social media over youth radicalization

EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Bartjan Wegter believes it is necessary to increase pressure on social platforms in order to prevent the radicalization of young people on the internet.

He said this to the Financial Times (FT).
According to Wegter, the number of minors involved in terrorist attacks has grown significantly in the EU. The nature of the threats has changed: instead of large-scale attacks, small assaults committed by individuals radicalized by online content are occurring more and more often. «You could call it terrorism on demand,» the newspaper quotes Wegter as saying.

He noted that current EU legislation does not fully address the problem, since a significant portion of materials inciting hatred and hostility does not fall under the direct definition of terrorist content. Wegter emphasized that a combination of pressure and dialogue is ideal for working with the platforms, and stated that «the impunity of social networks has come to an end.»
According to Europol, 45 terrorist attacks, including those that were prevented, were recorded in the EU last year, and more than half of them had motives of religious fanaticism, the newspaper notes.

Source: TASS