16-Year-Old Detained For Playing Multiple ISIS-Themed Roblox Games

A 16-year-old boy has been detained by Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) for joining multiple ISIS-themed servers on Roblox.

As reported by SCMP, authorities were made aware of the boy's actions in November 2020 when he was only 14 years old, and it has since come to light that he used these Roblox servers to replicate Iraq and Syria conflict zones, even swearing allegiance to an in-Game ISIS leader.

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The boy, who can't be named as he is a minor, and can't give statements due to a restriction order filed in January, held the roles of "spokesperson" and "chief propagandist". On top of this, he lived out his real-life fantasies through Roblox, shooting and killing ISIS enemies in-Game.

A 15-year-old boy was also detained back in November following an arrest for accessing and becoming radicalised through an ISIS-themed Roblox server. According to the ISD, he had ideas about beheading non-Muslims, becoming a suicide bomber, and taking part in knife attacks across Singapore.

Regarding this, the ISD said, "At the point of his arrest, the youth was deeply entrenched in his radical views, but had yet to undertake any steps towards actualising his attack ideations".

Under the controversial ISA law, the home affairs minister can detain people suspected of terrorism for up to two years without trial, and this can be renewed further. This was used to detain the two teenagers for their actions in Roblox and for having been radicalised by these in-Game servers. The two were also alleged to have been in contact with 18-year-old Muhammad Irfaan Danylam Mohamad Nor, who was allegedly planning to set up an Islamic caliphate (a political-religious state) on Singapore's Coney Island. He was arrested back in December 2022.

The ISD also said that this case, with both the 15 and 16-year-olds, is a prime example of how "extremist ideas continue to find resonance among Singaporeans", and that Game platforms such as Roblox are being used to target vulnerable and young people specifically. Video Games being used for right-wing radicalisation is something even the US Department of Homeland Security is worried about.

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