(NL Times) Between 2015 and 2017 the Dutch national counter-terrorism coordinator NCTV was working on a secret campaign to prevent young Muslims from becoming radicalized. It consisted of videos showing young people deciding against radicalization, intended to be a counterpoint for propaganda from terrorist organizations like Islamic State. The idea was dropped after a similar campaign in Amsterdam caused an uproar, NRC reported based on internal NCTV emails and questions to National Coordinator for Counter-terrorism and Security Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg.
The idea to spread these anti-radicalization videos among young Muslims came from [Irish] psychologist David Kenning, according to NRC. The plan, internally called “Brand Destruction,” was not positively received by everyone in the NCTV, with analysts calling Kenning a “false prophet” that pays too little attention to religious ideology in radicalization. There were also concerns about young people feeling betrayed by the state if they found out about such secret video campaigns.
