Article
Cyberspace and Youth Radicalisation: Emerging Trends in India with Special Reference to Tamil Nadu

By : Sri Kishor S M, Sai Krishna

Page No: 263-280

Abstract
Cyberspace has emerged as a powerful tool for radicalising youth globally, particularly in India. It not only enables the transmission and spread of extremist narratives, but also facilitates recruitment and the execution of operations across targeted geographic boundaries. This study examines how online platforms like social media applications and encrypted online forums interact with socioeconomic grievances, identity politics and local networks to produce pathways toward violent and non-violent extremism among young people, with a focused case analysis of Tamil Nadu. Drawing on multidisciplinary theory, including social-movement theory, moral-panic frameworks, this research integrates (a) an empirical case material from India’s investigation agencies (b) government reports and policy documents from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and (c) national and international scholarship on online radicalisation and youth vulnerability. Findings highlight three interacting mechanisms — algorithmic amplification, peer network formation and grievance activation — each shaping pathways to online radicalisation.

Authors
Sri Kishor S M, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, Nehru Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Sai Krishna, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, Nehru Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
 

DOI: http://doi.org/10.32381/NS.2026.09.02.7