Its project coordinator Hisham Muhaimi said young people who did not receive proper guidance were at risk of being exploited and manipulated by “malicious actors” because they were very impressionable.

He said they also took advantage of young adults who were searching for a community they could belong to on social media.

“Young people can be influenced by far-righters, who will use them as a tool to mobilise regressive actions in politics and public space,” Hisham said during a forum titled “Exploring Women’s Rights Within the Framework of Islam & Malaysian Laws”.

Citing a study by Initiate My – which was formed by deradicalised youths – on the trends and dynamics of far-right extremism in Malaysia, he said young men have the digital fluency to create violent posts that circumvent the content moderation guidelines on social media platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.

“Some of these posts don’t necessarily violate the guidelines or promote violence, but when viewed together – the message, music used, nuances – the content can be really dangerous,” he said, noting that such extreme content tended to surge during general elections.

As an example, Hisham said content creators had published videos depicting a keris to allude to the May 13 racial riots.

He also expressed concern about an uptick in xenophobic rhetoric towards the Rohingya community from young content creators who compared their struggles with that of Palestinians in the ongoing conflict with Israel.

“We see people drawing similarities between Malaysia and Palestine, and saying that the Rohingya are the Israelis of Malaysia.”

Hisham acknowledged that Muslims in the country might feel a moral and religious duty to support the plight of their peers, but he said it did not justify the anti-minority sentiments seen on social media.