A/HRC/62/56 seeking to prevent violent radicalization, disrupt extremist mobilization and protect communities targeted by racist, xenophobic and anti-government violence.5 37. In addition, the contemporary extremist landscape is marked by an increasing permeability between ideological extremist groups and nihilistic violence networks. Individuals may move fluidly between these environments, adopting extremist symbols and narratives without sustained ideological commitment. Traditional understandings of terrorism, centered on hierarchical organizations with clearly defined ideologies and command structures, are increasingly insufficient to capture the dynamics of contemporary violent extremism.6 Information received by the Special Rapporteur indicates the emergence of decentralized violent milieus in which ideologically explicit extremist groups coexist and interact with online subcultures, violence networks and criminally oriented actors. At the same time, ideologically motivated organizations increasingly appropriate the aesthetics, communication styles and notoriety-driven tactics characteristic of nihilistic online cultures in order to attract attention, normalize violence and recruit younger audiences, as discussed further below.7 These trends were reflected in a 2025 report of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) on terrorism in the European Union, which documents developments in 2024. The report stated that the threat posed by right-wing violent extremists remained multifaceted, characterized by a mix of cross-border networks on the internet and lone actors, alongside a limited number of organized groups operating outside the digital space.8 The involvement of children and young people 38. The intensifying involvement of disproportionately male minors in neo-Nazism and other extremist networks is a particularly alarming trend, with data indicating recent rises in youth participation in extremist activities and networks globally.9 As is discussed in more detail below, neo-Nazi and other extremist groups increasingly use digital platforms, including to engage with and recruit children and young people, accelerating their involvement in such networks. They are increasingly exposed and socialised by online extremist environments, including encrypted channels, fringe forums, anonymous image boards and networks commonly referred to as “Terrorgram.” 10 These spaces often do not operate as formal organizations but rather as cultural ecosystems in which hate speech, irony, misogyny, shock content and transgressive behavior contribute to the erosion of social and moral boundaries. In such environments, repeated exposure to violent content may precede and facilitate ideological radicalization amongst children and young people. Research has 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE), Malicious Insider Threats: An Overview (Omaha, NE: University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2023), accessed May 11, 2026, https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=ncitereportsresearch Jon Lewis and Haroro J. Ingram, Founding Fathers of the Modern American Neo-Nazi Movement: The Impacts and Legacies of Louis Beam, William Luther Pierce, and James Mason (Washington, DC: Program on Extremism, George Washington University, June 2023), accessed May 11, 2026, https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs5746/files/2023-05/founding-fathers-final.pdf. Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), “Out of the Woodwork: Examining the Global Aspirations of The Base,” Digital Dispatches, September 2025, https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/out-ofthe-woodwork-examining-the-global-aspirations-of-the-base-2/. Europol, European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2025 (EU TE-SAT) (Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2025), PDF, accessed May 8, 2026, https://www.europol.europa.eu/cms/sites/default/files/documents/EU_TE-SAT_2025.pdf. (europol.europa.eu). RAND Corporation, Mapping White Identity Terrorism and Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism: A Social Network Analysis of Online Activity, by Heather J. Williams et al., RR-A1841-1 (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2022), PDF, accessed May 8, 2026, https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA1800/RRA18411/RAND_RRA1841-1.pdf. (rand.org); & A/77/512. Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), “Neo-Nazi Accelerationists Seek New Digital Refuge amid Looming Telegram Crackdown,” October 4, 2024, https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/neonazi-accelerationists-seek-new-digital-refuge-amid-looming-telegram-crackdown/. (isdglobal.org).