Two autistic people radicalised online the state of social media

Re. Elon Musk: autism is never an excuse for unacceptable behaviour.

Social media platforms push hateful content because it gets more views. It's a sad, sad example of the current corruption in our world today

I was using the counter terrorism website as a framework. I basically am referring to those who got into extremism, terrorism and violence and have been a threat to health and safety. It seems that both of those cases did fall into this at some point into their life they fell into this.

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I tend to avoid such superlatives as 'radicalised'. It would only fuel the fire of those resentful towards society.

The problem is School. It's just market research, nowadays. Kids are just data, and statistics, in the eyes of authority. No wonder fewer people cope in a Work Environment. They were trained, as children, to be at loggerheads with other tribes.

The obsession with safety infantilised teenagers. They're no longer given responsibilities, for them to develop. Now, the likes of us are declared 'Vulnerable Adults'.

It all boils down to kids being made to be quiet, rather than curious.

On this forum, I’ve noticed that people use and reference YouTube more than other social media like Snapchat or Twitter/x, but I don’t know if autistic people are more vulnerable to radicalisation or exploitation than non-autistic people.

Children, people with learning difficulties, some older people, those with dementia, and autistic people could be classified as vulnerable to scams, abuse, radicalisation and other crimes. Radicalisation can begin subtly and the perpetrators can make claims based on lies. While some autistic people mightn’t understand the more subtle or nuanced messages, many can be more alert to harmful influences. Those who run social media and AI companies have the ability to stop many of the harmful occurrences, yet they choose not to because it’s not in their financial interest.  I think society as a whole needs to take responsibility in any way possible to stop the social media companies reaping the financial rewards from ‘influencers’ who exploit for personal gain.

Those who own and run social media companies, also those individuals and corporations who run AI are influencing and manipulating politics, trade, morality and ethics around the world. Those people are comparatively minute in number yet they influence and manipulate the entire world.

Perhaps it’s time to be part of a world movement (should such a thing exist) that can exert pressure on governments to implement policy change?

Very interesting thank you for posting this. I never heard of this. I have looked it up and you can read about on the Guardian website.  For example the Southport case happened before they wrote this report and has recently got more coverage , but the Alina Burns case happened after they released this report.

I was taken aback when I read about Alina Burnes and didn’t like it and was trying to figure out what could have motivated her to do this. It was a bit concerning as it was almost questioning autistic peoples ethics  to be inherently violent when we are all different.

www.theguardian.com/.../ofsted-training-manual-criticised-autistic-children-extremism-prevent

There was a report about this in a recent issue of Private Eye magazine (alas, not online) and in particular the guidance provided by the UK Home Office as part of their Prevent anti-radicalisation programme. Unfortunately, the Home Office (and to some extent Ofsted, the education regular, as well) are still putting out guidance that neurodivergent kids are more prone to being radicalised, despite a large body of evidence that there's no greater risk compared to neurotypical individuals. Why they're ignoring the scientific evidence, I've no idea, but it means that neurodivergent kids, on top of patchy provision of educational support, are under increased scrutiny over their behaviour in school.

Young people are growing up in a very different world from the one I grew up in. It was expected that I spent time with family unless going out to meet friends. Watching TV meant watching what everyone else was watching. Today most teenagers spend time at home in their rooms and can socialize from there, as well as going out. 

As far as jobs are concerned, for some it is a challenge to break the pattern they are in to go out. For those with degrees it seems lots don't have the work experience required. To some extent the same was true in my day. Although there was a lot of competition for jobs  I had the advantage of my training being specific to my job. The other thing I have noted for young people today is that if they are not academic and want to do an apprenticeship they need Maths and English at GCSE 4 or functional skills level 2. This leaves very little choice for some to get a practical job. It seems if they get the level below it counts for nothing.

Yes, it's also possible. 

I stay away from it. I think there are also other people, similarly vulnerable, with other conditions or trauma. 

Thank you CatWoman for your thoughts. It can be hard being young as you mentioned you can be more vulnerable. Also, I think may be with COVID effects it is even harder for young people to get a job. Also, there is not a lot of support for autistic people in the community as well. I find it sad.

Just now in life  I am starting to state what is ok and is not rather than accept it.

I don’t know to much about Elon Musk, but I have read that he has said that is autistic as well, high functioning.

Thank you for your insight. They are really interesting points and helpful to read. I was thinking as well that some autistic people may be could may be have a special interest in an extremist group and may be prepared to give a lot for it. 

There are some reasons, why some autistic individuals may be more prone to radicalisation. For example being the loner whole life and suddenly falling into a group, who has an agenda and the rule is simple- follow the agenda snd you are one of us! For many ND people it can feel life changing and wonderful feeling of belonging. Additionally as it states in tge dx criteria, we struggle to "read between the lines", we don't get people's intentions and take everything literally. This is another point to why autistic people may be more vulnerable in such environment. But on the other hand, especially if someone is highly analytical, they may figure out on their own, that it's wrong or at least not worth to get busy with. I remember I almost got radicalised by right wingers in my country (12 years ago or so). I used to believe, what these people were saying, to the point, where it became dangerous.  There were demonstrations of neo *** in the streets and they were kind of protected by the police. And then I started thinking about it all critically. I've never took part in any such demonstration, it was too much for me. But I started thinking, that they just created a group and imagined themselves a thread and enemy just to gain some power, money, manipulate others and find some people,  like me, who have no friends and belong nowhere, to offer them a perspective, some sense of belonging and the only thing they required was loyalty. And I thought- why they demonise other people from other parts of the world. Every human.is human! 

It's a difficult topic, I think there might be some points where an autistic person may be more vulnerable to this than an NT, but definitely not all autistic people are that way. Many of us have special interest,  so as I'm busy with space and planets, such groups and political views are morealien to me, than little green men.

I think Elon Musk has become radicalisaed by his own social media company,but as for autistic people in general I don't know, I think all people are vulnerable to being manipulated, especially young people, but quite a few older people too. 

I'm not a user of social media, apart from here, so in many ways I can't really comment, but what I will say is people need to be taught critical thinking, to ask questions of questions and to question what they're being told or asked to do. People also need to accept that there are more nuances to life than yesno, like/dislike, I think this comes from the ability to think critically.

I'm not sure about banning social media for under 16's, they seem to be able to get around it and at 16 ones brain is still pretty plastic and can be moulded, I wonder if a ban could have the opposite effect and make people more likely to go mad and explore this new space on their 16th birthday, like so many people did/do on thier 18th when they can drink?