White supremacist content grips teens plotting attacks in southeast asia

White Supremacist Content Grips Southeast Asian Teens, Sparks Security Fears

Rising Influence of White Supremacist Ideologies Among Southeast Asian Youth

By Fanny Potkin, Stanley Widianto and Ananda Teresia

Jakarta School Bombing: A Disturbing First

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA, March 10 (Reuters) - When police detained an Indonesian teenager accused of bombing his high-school campus in Jakarta in November, he had a life-size toy rifle inscribed with "welcome to hell" and the names of white supremacist mass killers.

The November 7 attack, which injured 96 people, may have been the first in the country inspired by white supremacists but police fear it won't be the last.

Monitoring and Prevention Efforts

Indonesian Authorities on Alert

At least 97 youths - the youngest just 11 - are being monitored after coming under the influence of content glorifying mass violence and white supremacists spread largely on messaging app Telegram, Indonesian police told Reuters in March. 

At least two were planning acts of violence following the Jakarta bombing, according to the police. 

Regional Spread of Radicalization

And it's not just Indonesia. Across Southeast Asia - home to hundreds of millions of people of different ethnicities and faiths - police are grappling with a surge in teenagers plotting violence inspired by white supremacists such as Christchurch mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant, according to interviews with security officials in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. 

Singapore's domestic intelligence agency has detained four youths since December 2020 on grounds that they subscribed to "violent far-right extremism ideologies" and were planning attacks. Far-right extremism has since been named by the city-state's Internal Security Department (ISD) as a top threat. 

Motivations and Methods of Radicalization

Non-White Perpetrators and Their Beliefs

None of the teenagers Singapore and Indonesia are monitoring are white. Some were plotting attacks they believed would protect the existing racial and religious composition of their countries, according to ISD statements on the detentions. Others, three Indonesian security officials say, were inspired by the violence of far-right attackers, even if they didn't have similar grievances.  

Role of Social Media in Radicalization

In every instance in Singapore and Indonesia reviewed by Reuters, the teenagers were alleged by authorities to have been radicalized through social media posts and communities. 

Many of the young people who have been detained or placed under monitoring appear to be disillusioned and lonely individuals "turning towards a nihilistic worldview after being radicalized by far-right messaging", said Pravin Prakash, who researches Southeast Asia at the Center for the Study of Organised Hate, a Washington think-tank.

The Jakarta suspect, according to Indonesian authorities, had posted online video footage of his campus alongside Nazi symbols and text that appeared to be inspired by "Highway to Hell" from the rock band AC/DC: "Don't need no reason, ain't nothing I'd rather do. I am on the highway to hell and all my friends are going to be there."  

Telegram's Role and Response

Telegram groups, in particular, had provided the young people with a sense of belonging, according to Indonesian police. 

That platform often doesn't take action on content that authorities have reported as extremist, said police commissioner Mayndra Eka Wardhana, a spokesperson for the counter-terrorism squad.

Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn said in response to questions that the platform "has an open channel of communication with Indonesian authorities" and "removes any content that breaches Telegram's terms of service whenever reported."

Telegram "supports the right to peaceful free speech, but calls to violence are explicitly forbidden," Vaughn added. 

Regional Security Cooperation

Southeast Asian security and police agencies are coordinating efforts, marking the first regional cooperation on this type of radicalization, according to officials from Singapore and Indonesia.

Killer Memes and Online Subcultures

The "True Crime Community" and Glorification of Violence

KILLER MEMES

All the Indonesian teens authorities identified as being radicalized were affiliated with the "true crime community", a popular internet subculture.

In channels linked to the community, users share memes and other content that glorifies killers like Tarrant, whose name was found on the Jakarta suspect's toy rifle, according to screenshots shared with Reuters by police and a separate review of four such groups.

Some online posters also traded bomb-making tutorials and egged each other on toward violence, screenshots of their conversations show. 

Localized White Supremacist Content

White supremacist content has also spread across other platforms, though often with a localized twist. Posts, for instance, may feature Southeast Asian iconography alongside Nazi symbols.

Reuters viewed hundreds of such videos from Southeast Asian users on TikTok showcasing racist caricatures of Chinese people and other minorities such as Rohingya Muslims alongside phrases like "TCD," or "Totally Cheerful Day" and "TRD," or "Total Refreshing Day." 

The phrases appear to be code calling for "Total Chinese Death" or "Total Rohingya Death", said Saddiq Basha of Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), who has tracked such content since 2024.

One popular video by an Indonesian user featuring the hashtag #TCD has been viewed over 542,000 times. The creator did not respond to a request for comment. 

Global Parallels and Platform Responses

Western white supremacist groups have used phrases like "TND/Totally Nice Day" and "TJD/Totally Joyful Day" to advocate the extermination of black and Jewish people, according to anti-discrimination groups like the Anti-Defamation League.

TikTok removed the Indonesian user's post, as well as similar content identified by Reuters, after the news agency sent the platform questions about its moderation policies.

"There is no place on our platform for those dedicated to spreading beliefs or propaganda that encourage violence or hate," a company spokesperson said. 

Challenges in Moderating Localized Hate Speech

Two people working on online-safety teams at TikTok told Reuters they were not familiar with the existence of policies on moderating posts that featured localized takes on white supremacist sl