Features of recruiting extremists and terrorists through online games

Background. This article is devoted to a problematic issue – the specifics of the recruitment of young people by extremists and terrorists using online games, and some specific mechanisms for recruiting people to the ranks of terrorists using modern technologies over the Internet, which are often used by members of radical groups.  The study focuses on the issues of psychological impact on players, the use of playful reality as manipulation tools, and highlights some of the problems of law enforcement agencies in identifying threats in the Internet space related to the active development of information technologies that allow recruiters to remain unpunished.

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to identify key factors contributing to the recruitment of extremists through online games, as well as to develop recommendations to reduce risks and prevent such cases.

Materials and methods. In the course of the scientific research, the following were used: scientific works on the problems of recruiting people through online gaming platforms, research by specialists on the problems of psychological methods of influencing players through online platforms, cases of influencing people's subconsciousness through gaming platforms were analyzed; regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation regulating public relations related to countering the spread of terrorism and extremism; The international practice of methods of combating the spread of ideas of extremism and terrorism on the Internet was studied.

In the course of the research, general scientific, private scientific and special research methods were used. In particular, the formal-logical, comparative-legal, case-study method, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction have found application.

Results. Some psychological ways of influencing recruiters on players through online platforms have been identified.

The author's recommendations are formulated in the field of monitoring the spread of extremist ideology on the Internet and improving the operation of online and playgrounds, gambling sites.

The scope of the results. The results of the study can be applied in standard-setting activities, in the course of further scientific research in the field of combating the spread of extremist ideology on the Internet and on playgrounds, as well as to improve and create gaming and streaming platforms.