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View all search resultsIndonesia’s new terrorism challenge: The terrorist criminal continuum
As violent extremism shifts from structured networks to decentralized online subcultures, Indonesia’s counterterrorism strategy must evolve from dismantling terrorist organizations to intercepting individual pathways to violence before tragedy strikes.
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Police officials carry out an on-site investigation following a blast at state high school SMAN 72 in Jakarta on Nov. 7, 2025. Two explosions in the school campus injured at least 55 people. (AFP/Candra)
F
or more than two decades, Indonesia’s counterterrorism strategy has been built around organizations. Militant networks such as Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) possessed identifiable structures, clear chains of command, active recruiters and coherent ideological doctrines.
Against this adversary, the state developed world-class proficiency: infiltrating cells, disrupting command lines, dismantling logistics and preempting attacks.
Yet the threat environment has fundamentally shifted. Violent extremism no longer depends on formal induction into an established group. In the digital ecosystem, the pathway often begins with exposure to violent material, deepens through subcultural identification, solidifies in decentralized online spaces and culminates in autonomous mobilization.
Indonesia must therefore evolve. Our challenge is no longer merely disrupting established terrorist networks, but recognizing and interrupting individual trajectories toward violence long before an attack materializes.
Recent cases involving minors connected to online True Crime Community subcultures serve as an urgent case in point. The counterterrorism squad Densus 88 has identified 70 children aged 11 to 18 across 19 provinces. These developments must be examined without sensationalism,consuming dark content does not make an adolescent a violent extremist.
Yet several moved beyond voyeurism. Roughly 20 were reportedly engaged in preparatory acts and nine had surveyed targets, predominantly schools. The significance of these cases lies not merely in the headcounts, but in what they expose: an evolving architecture of violence.
The central policy dilemma is no longer simply who belongs to a terrorist cell, but how an individual drifts toward violence without ever joining one.
