From the Guardian · · 2m
Sydney teen used AI to plan terror attack, court hears
A 16-year-old who admitted planning a terrorist attack told NSW supreme court he was radicalised on TikTok and used ChatGPT to strategise.
In brief
A 16-year-old who admitted planning a terrorist attack told NSW supreme court he was radicalised on TikTok and used ChatGPT to strategise. A Sydney teenager who planned a terror attack was radicalised through social media and used AI to develop his strategy, but avoided jail with a community corrections order…
Teen admits planning Sydney terror attack
A sixteen-year-old known as RK pleaded guilty to acts in preparation for a terrorist attack in Sydney in two thousand twenty-four. He was just fourteen when the offending occurred.
Radicalised through TikTok videos
RK told the NSW supreme court he was first exposed to extremist material on TikTok.
Progression to violent content
Justice Stephen Campbell said RK progressed to religious-themed videos which led him to increasingly violent content. He then talked about these subjects with people on the internet, trying to impress them.
Sydney Opera House as target
RK became focused on the Sydney Opera House as a potential location for an act of violence.He watched videos about the Opera House on YouTube and researched gay nightclubs and other places where infidels gather.
ChatGPT used to strategise
RK used ChatGPT to obtain information about the Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and asked the AI chatbot if inmates had access to news.He also asked ChatGPT about security arrangements at the Sydney Opera House.
Bomb-making research on multiple platforms
RK used Telegram seeking instructions on making a pressure cooker bomb and attempted to contact Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by email. Justice Campbell said he had no concrete plans and had not obtained any bomb-making material.
“Exhibiting what appears to me to be a complete lack of understanding of the import of his conduct, the young person emailed the prison, using a publicly available email address, asking whether he could email Tsarnaev.”
Deradicalisation and community order
RK expressed remorse and underwent six sessions of religious and ethical training from a Muslim cleric. Justice Campbell said he had genuinely renounced violent extremism and the deradicalisation process was well advanced.
“I am satisfied that he has genuinely renounced his adherence to Islamic violent extremism, which in any event was incipient and hesitant during the short period of his offending.”
Avoided jail with community corrections order
The NSW supreme court ordered RK into a three-year community corrections order rather than jail time. ASIO has warned that detecting online youth radicalisation has become very challenging for the security agency.
The one thing
A Sydney teenager who planned a terror attack was radicalised through social media and used AI to develop his strategy, but avoided jail with a community corrections order.
