On Tuesday evening, May 10th, Special Agents from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Francisco Division presented a lecture on Internet Safety against Crimes and Violent Extremism at the Pacifica Institute.
The lecture has started with the definition of violent extremism which is “encouraging, condoning, justifying, or supporting the commission of a violent act to achieve political, ideological, religious, social or economic goals”. In the lecture, the importance of distinguishing between Civil Liberties vs. Extremism was explained.
Some of the important points that are covered in this lecture are as follows:
- Violent extremists of all kinds (Domestic or Foreign) are actively attempting to radicalize and mobilize the youth.
- Their methods are mostly through internet and social media
- online forums/chats,
- online games,
- apps,
- social networks,
- online books/magazines.
- It is hard to shield young people completely from extremist messaging by censorship since it has a limited effect.
After talking about 3 recent violent extremism in the US (one related to Sovereign Citizen Extremism, one related to religious extremism, and the other related to white supremacy extremism), the agents summarized how we can help mitigating this problem:
- Educate your kids about the forms of propaganda that may pose a threat,
- Provide them with constructive outlet for discussion,
- Know and teach the difference between free speech and extremism
- Use social media as a tool for promoting positive messages.
The brochures explaining FBI’s “Don’t Be a Puppet” website (which is a free, Internet-based awareness program for teens) have been given to the audience. For more info you can visit https://cve.fbi.gov
The lecture has ended with questions and answers session.
