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Authorities and policymakers need to work with service providers to proactively identify and deplatform radical figures and sites where misogynistic, violent and extremist ideas proliferate. This will stymie the reach and legitimacy of bad actors while preserving young people\u2019s access to the broader benefits of online spaces.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to structural measures, we need to up our game in cultivating digital literacy. At the National Institute of Education, research by doctoral candidate Farah Vierra and Associate Professor Suzanne Choo examines how to better develop students\u2019 truth-seeking literacies.<\/span><\/p>\n They recommend students practise deep reading of texts, going beyond surface-level analysis and their personal opinions. Students should consider historical and cultural contexts, as well as engage with alternative perspectives. Such an approach seeks to encourage students to evaluate and reflect on the content they consume.<\/span><\/p>\n Teaching students how to critically evaluate online narratives is important, given that proponents of extremist narratives rely on misinformation, cherry-picked data, fabricated information and conspiracy theories to sway young minds. Through regular practice across different subjects, youths learn to consider what they see online, disrupting their passive exposure to harmful content in online spaces.<\/span><\/p>\n Youth radicalisation today is quiet, passive and incremental, and often invisible to the adults in their lives. Countering youth radicalisation demands sustained effort from governments, industry and educators.<\/span><\/p>\n Carol Soon is Associate Professor (Practice) and Deputy Head in the Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore. She is also Vice Chair of the Media Literacy Council. Hannah Nor\u2019hisham is Research Assistant in the Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n