Online gaming platforms being used to groom UK children into extremism
Key Points
- A Youth Justice Board evidence pack published in June 2026 warns that online gaming platforms including Roblox and Discord are being used to groom children into extremism.
- Child terrorism arrests in England and Wales reached the highest level on record in the year ending September 2025, with 53 children arrested.
- Children aged 11 to 15 made up the largest group of Prevent referrals in the year ending March 2025, at 36 per cent of cases where age was known.
- The YJB highlights a decentralised online network known as "the Com" that exploits children's loneliness to recruit them into harmful behaviour.
- Youth Diversion Orders targeting online radicalisation are expected to come into force from autumn 2026 under the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
Online gaming platforms are being used to draw children into extremist ideologies, according to a new evidence pack published by the Youth Justice Board (YJB).
The pack, released in June 2026, identifies platforms such as Roblox and Discord as social spaces in which children may be groomed into extremism.
It notes that some extremist organisations have imitated the aesthetics of popular games within their propaganda material in an effort to appeal to younger users.
The findings come as the number of children arrested for terrorism offences in England and Wales reached the highest level on record.
In the year ending September 2025, 53 children were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation. Excluding arrests connected to the proscribed group Palestine Action, children accounted for 20 per cent of all terrorism-related arrests.
The evidence pack states that radicalisation frequently involves a hybrid of online and offline experiences, with online interactions leading to behavioural changes such as a child repeating extremist slogans at school.
It adds that children who have interacted with extremist material once are more likely to be served further content reinforcing extremist worldviews through personalisation systems on social media.
Children aged 11 to 15 made up the largest group of referrals to the Government’s Prevent programme in the year ending March 2025, accounting for 36% of cases where age was known.
The same age group accounted for 35% of Extremist Right-Wing ideology referrals and more than half of referrals linked to a fascination with extreme violence.
The pack also highlights concerns over immersive and VR platforms, which it says are being used by perpetrators to groom and exploit children, including through exposure to extremist content.
Children encounter harmful sexual content, rape threats and racist abuse in these environments, with harms potentially feeling more real than those experienced in conventional online settings.
Researchers point to the rise of a decentralised online ecosystem, referred to by authorities as “the Com”, which spans gaming platforms, livestreams and messaging apps.
The networks are described as exploiting children’s need for belonging, a phenomenon termed “weaponised loneliness”, to recruit and coerce them into harmful behaviour. Radicalisation through these networks can take place within weeks.
The pack notes that parents and teachers often lack the media and gaming literacy required to intervene effectively. It recommends early intervention, gaming literacy and strength-based approaches that promote belonging and positive identity-building.
New Youth Diversion Orders, introduced under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, are expected to come into force from autumn 2026.
The orders are intended to disrupt children’s involvement in terrorism-related activity, including online radicalisation, at an earlier stage and divert them from the wider criminal justice system.
