(Radio France) As France marks 10 years since the 13 November Paris attacks, security experts warn the jihadist threat has shifted to a younger generation drawn in through algorithm-driven feeds. Radicalisation is now happening faster and earlier, with teenagers lured by online propaganda rather than established Islamist networks. RFI spoke with Laurène Renaut, a Sorbonne researcher of online jihadist circles, about how this shift is unfolding and why it is proving so difficult to contain.
RFI: The potential terror threat is now coming from increasingly younger individuals in France. What are the typical profiles of radicalised young people you have observed?
Laurène Renaut: Since 2023, 70 percent of those arrested for planning jihadist attacks have been under the age of 21. But there is no typical profile because radicalisation is a multi-faceted phenomenon.
