Singapore’s latest internal security cases show alarming speed of radicalisation

Two Singaporeans have been issued restriction orders under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after being found to have been separately radicalised by online content on the Gaza war, with one of the cases involving a 14-year-old marking the youngest-ever individual to be dealt with under the ISA.

Terrorism experts who spoke to This Week in Asia said the developments reflected a “quickened timeline” of radicalisation that could be due to social media algorithms, while one analyst warned the swift action by the government could be misconstrued as authorities “targeting specific political viewpoints”.

The city state’s Internal Security Department (ISD) on Monday named the other self-radicalised Singaporean as An’nadya An’nahari, a 33-year-old former civil servant.

Speaking to local media outlets on Monday, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, noting the student’s case, said: “Many of us sympathise with the Palestinian cause. I sympathise with the Palestinian cause. They should have their own country and not suffer like this.

“But sympathy for any foreign cause cannot mean we can support or allow terrorism. Action was taken against a young boy and An’nadya, not because they supported Palestine … action was taken against the two of them because of their support for armed violence.

“And in the case of the young boy, because also that he was prepared to engage in armed violence himself.”

Shashi Jayakumar, founder of security consultancy, SJKGeostrategic Advisory, told This Week in Asia: “While a great deal is not known about the radicalisation journeys of the 14-year-old and the 33-year-old, it is striking that the youth’s radicalisation journey occurred only over a few months.

“The timeline for radicalisation in this internet or