Understanding and Preventing Online Extremism in Southeast Asia

From 2023 to 2025, Hedayah worked with partners in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines to improve regional efforts to combat online extremism in Southeast Asia.

Funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the program provided training for policymakers and conducted research with frontline practitioners. During the program, Hedayah organized workshops to strengthen the understanding of how Media and Information Literacy (MIL) can be used to counter extremist content.

In Indonesia, a workshop was held to equip young people with critical skills to counter online extremism, including creating messages to challenge hate speech. Based on a curriculum developed by Hedayah in collaboration with the Global Internet Forum to Counterterrorism (GIFCT), participants learned how to prevent and respond to online extremism. Since then, participants have launched local initiatives, such as theater performances and awareness sessions.

In 2025, Hedayah, in collaboration with national partners, the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and Malaysia’s Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter Terrorism Cooperation (SEARCCT), published two research studies that aim to support future online counter-extremism activities in Indonesia and Malaysia. These reports provide practical, evidence-based recommendations for addressing online extremism, drawing lessons from both academic literature and consultations with frontline counter-extremism practitioners across government, academia, and civil society.

Read the Reports