The increasing rapid online radicalization of young people is a threat to national security. This is stated by the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) in the Terrorism Threat Assessment Netherlands December 2025.
Concerns about radicalization within jihadism and right-wing extremism and terrorism are significant. This radicalization often occurs online. Extremist and terrorist groups misuse online platforms to spread propaganda, recruit new members, and incite them to commit terrorist violence. This happens on both open platforms (social media, gaming) and closed online chat groups. In the Netherlands and Europe, some minors have been arrested after rapid online radicalization.
Enhanced Online Approach
The NCTV is committed to a coordinated approach to online extremism and terrorism through the Enhanced Online Approach. A central part of this approach is intensive cooperation with partners within the security domain, the youth domain, and online platforms.
A dialogue with the internet sector at the European, but certainly also at the national level, remains one of the main priorities. Online platforms have a responsibility to protect their users by removing extremist and terrorist content from their platforms. Furthermore, the online domain is increasingly becoming part of the local approach to radicalization, extremism, and terrorism. Here, municipalities, police, the Public Prosecution Service, and other local and national care and security partners work closely together to prevent radicalization and extremism at an early stage.
International cooperation
European and international cooperation is essential in combating online extremism and terrorism. Together with Germany and France, the Netherlands calls on the European Commission to establish a voluntary code of conduct for online platforms to combat online radicalization, violent extremism, and terrorism, together with online platforms, member states, and civil society. For this purpose, the Netherlands, together with Germany and France, has drawn up the non-paper “Countering together: Fighting Online Radicalisation, Violent Extremism and Terrorism.” With this, the Netherlands takes an international leading role and takes an important step in European cooperation to jointly combat online extremism and terrorism.