Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Monday, April 14, 2025

PARIS (AP) -- After his arrest, the boy's mother was stunned to discover that her 12-year-old had been learning how to kill and gorging on videos of decapitation and torture so gruesome they made even case-hardened French court officials look away. The mother told criminal investigators that she'd thought her son had been playing video games and doing homework during the hours he spent in his room. The child's descent into the internet's darkest recesses started innocently enough, with online searches about Islam after an aunt gave him a Quran as a gift, says the boy's lawyer. From there, more searching, automated algorithms that steer users' online experiences and the boy's curiosity ultimately led him to encrypted chats and ultraviolent propaganda pumped out by Islamic State militants and other extremist groups that are worming their way via apps, video gaming and social media into the minds of the very young.

More

Alternate links: Google News | Twitter

FTA:

The so-called "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing network that usually shuns the limelight, comprising U.S., U.K., Canadian, Australian and New Zealand security agencies, is so alarmed that it took the unusual step in December of calling publicly for collective action, saying: "Radicalized minors can pose the same credible terrorist threat as adults."

...

For some kids, the process starts with violent pornography or a fascination for gory images, counterterrorism investigators say. From there, more clicks can lead to grisly murder videos from Mexican drug cartels and ultimately to jihadi decapitations, throat-slitting and torture, in videos that are sometimes slickly produced with music and are shared on chat groups.

"Often they're heavy consumers of everything that is broadcast on the Web and especially things that are forbidden," said Christen, the French national anti-terror prosecutor. "It's something of a chain reaction that gets them to the ultra-violence disseminated by jihadi movements."

Comments

Admin's note: Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

Gore. Tipper?

#1 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-04-14 09:08 PM | Reply

"automated algorithms" are created by humans.

Humans are doing this to children.
Not "automated algorithms."

#2 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-04-14 09:46 PM | Reply

Humans are doing this to children.

Nice try snoofy, you never cared about the kids, they're just political props to you.

#3 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-04-15 01:58 PM | Reply

strawman. Oneironut is virtue signaling that he cares again.

#4 | Posted by Alexandrite at 2025-04-15 01:59 PM | Reply

The mother told criminal investigators that she'd thought her son had been playing video games and doing homework during the hours he spent in his room.

Probably would have helped had the mother been more involved with her child's life.

All parents should know what their kids are up to for hours alone in their rooms.

Especially these days when the internet could be teaching them subjects they shouldn't be learning.

Incels are homegrown.

#5 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-04-15 02:05 PM | Reply

The following HTML tags are allowed in comments: a href, b, i, p, br, ul, ol, li and blockquote. Others will be stripped out. Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

Anyone can join this site and make comments. To post this comment, you must sign it with your Drudge Retort username. If you can't remember your username or password, use the lost password form to request it.
Username:
Password:

Home | Breaking News | Comments | User Blogs | Stats | Back Page | RSS Feed | RSS Spec | DMCA Compliance | Privacy

Drudge Retort