A 26-year-old Syrian citizen, who has already been arrested, is believed to be responsible for the attack that took place last Friday at a festival in the German city of Solingen. The motives that led this young man to fatally stab three people and injure eight others are unknown, but the detainee is likely to have become radicalized on social networks , which in recent years have become a real breeding ground for terrorists.
Ten years ago, the authorities in Germany, the country where the last Islamist attack on European soil took place (the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack), considered mosques to be the main recruiting grounds for future terrorists, but today the police's gaze is firmly fixed on the network of networks.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany is already speaking openly of the “ TikTokization” of Islamic terrorism. And social wordpress web design agency media, where terror influencers are at their most active, is seen as accelerators of the dissemination of extremist ideas.
“The internet is increasingly becoming a powerful engine for radicalisation ,” says Herbert Reul, Minister of the Interior of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Experts assume – not without reason – that almost all Islamic terrorists are radicalised on the internet. And so-called “hate preachers” often have millions of “followers” on TikTok , Telegram and Instagram.
It is not yet clear whether the suspect in the Solingen attack was actually radicalised online and the investigation into the matter is still ongoing. However, the suspect fits the profile of an internet radicalised terrorist. He is a young man, had not yet attracted the attention of the authorities for his extremist ideas and apparently acted alone.
The suspect is believed to have arrived in Germany at the end of 2022. According to Spiegel , he was born in Deir al-Sor, a town in eastern Syria that was occupied several times by the Islamic State during the 13-year civil war in the Middle Eastern country. On Saturday afternoon, the young man voluntarily turned himself in to the police just 25 hours after the attack.
Horror influencers have millions of followers on social media
Issa al H. is the name of the suspect, who is believed to have applied for asylum in Bielefeld, also in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . Coming from a country ravaged by war, the suspect, who has been living in a refugee centre in Solingen for the past few months, is entitled to remain on German soil and is also covered by a series of benefits.
Before the young Syrian turned himself in to the police, the Islamic State published a letter claiming responsibility for the attack, which at first glance appears to be genuine . The letter was sent via the Islamic State website Amak and was also received by the police. In this letter, the terrorist organisation speaks of a “soldier” who attacked “a group of Christians”.
It is not clear, however, whether the suspect actually acted on behalf of the Islamic State. However, the organisation openly advocates knife attacks (such as the one carried out last Friday in Solingen), as these attacks are relatively easy to carry out.
What seems out of the ordinary is that radicalizing potential terrorists is surprisingly easy in today's world , when young people are consuming extremist content profusely on their mobile devices.
It is also worth noting that when users click on content directly related to jihad or Palestine on social media, they are caught in a kind of vicious circle and the algorithm systematically confronts them with more content on this topic . "Those affected fall into a spiral that leads them sooner or later to become part of a more closed group of extremist people," explains terrorism expert Peter R. Neumann in statements to NZZ .
It is difficult for the authorities to keep a tight rein on the terror influencers who hide behind social media. After all, if they encounter restrictions, they quickly move to other channels and take their millions of followers with them.
In Spain, an influencer was arrested last June in Malaga for disseminating jihadist content on TikTok and has recently been ordered to remain in prison, as there is a risk that he will flee to Morocco.