JAKARTA, Aug 6 – Indonesian police are investigating how terrorism networks use social media for recruitment following the arrest of a 19-year-old suspect in Batu, Malang, East Java.
The suspect, identified by the initials HOK, was detained on July 31 while disposing of chemicals for explosives. Reports indicate that HOK developed radical views through social media interactions.
The country’s elite counter-terrorism unit, Densus 88, revealed that radicalisation and terrorist propaganda on social media can quickly lead individuals to commit suicide bombings.
Its spokesperson Commissioner Aswin Siregar in a statement stated, “All of this happened within a span of about six to seven months.”
Densus 88 is also looking into how social media and inadequate family monitoring contributed to the teen’s desire to attack religious sites, which he views as infidels according to the ideology he has adopted.
According to Aswin, HOK began studying ISIS ideology in November 2023 and acquired bomb-making materials between May and April this year.
Terrorism expert Al Chaidar from Malikussaleh University Aceh stated that Daulah Islamiyah, a new group formed from former members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), remains affiliated with ISIS.
“This group has been active since June 2023 and targets places of worship,” he added.
Chaidar added that many former JI members have joined ISIS, keeping various terrorist networks active despite the formal dissolution of JI on June 30 in Bogor, West Java.
