The digital ecosystem is increasingly playing an enabling role in disseminating propaganda, incitement and mobilisation in the pursuit of violent extremist acts. India’s rapidly evolving security landscape is increasingly shaped by the online ecosystem, driven by the convergence of emerging technologies, decentralised peer-to-peer networks, and online communities.

The digital ecosystem is increasingly playing an enabling role in disseminating propaganda, incitement and mobilisation in the pursuit of violent extremist acts. While not every act of radicalisation has manifested into incidents that could be categorised as violent extremist in nature, rigorous online indoctrination carries the potential to, through sustained radicalisation, eventually transform into acts of violent extremism targeted at state infrastructure, places of worship, government agencies, elected representatives, or unarmed civilians.

This is particularly important as traditional avenues and timelines for radicalisation and subsequent acts of violent extremism (including terrorism) have become far less dependent on physical or in-person interactions over prolonged periods. As per the Global Terrorism Index Report 2026, the time taken for an individual to become radicalised and subsequently commit acts of extremist violence has shrunk to a matter of weeks by 2026, down from more than a year in 2005, from first exposure to radical material to the carrying out of an attack.[1]

Broader Domestic Context

Over the last decade, India has taken decisive steps to neutralise emerging security threats, including the institutionalisation of PRAHAAR in February 2026, India’s first publicly available national counter-terrorism strategy.[2] The document acknowledges the growing concerns attached to the exploitation of social media and encrypted chat forums by violent extremists. It signals that developments within the broader digital ecosystem need to be factored into national security policy.

This is particularly crucial given the recent acts of extremist violence, including the car blast near the Red Fort in New Delhi (November 2025) and the lone wolf stabbing incident in Mumbai (April 2026), which indicate that the perpetrators have increasingly been indoctrinated online to carry out acts aimed at undermining national security (see subsequent sections for details).

At the same time, there have been crackdowns on micro-cells and online networks of extremists inspired by the virulent ideology espoused by Al-Qaeda (AQ) and ISIS on the one hand, and criminal networks linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on the other. The latter, in particular, operates at the intersection of organised crime and terrorism.

Therefore, as conventional threats such as organised crime and terrorism converge with an increasingly penetrable digital environment, regulating content shared on social media or encrypted chat forums becomes crucial.

The Threat of Online Radicalisation

India has, over the decades, faced physical acts of terror and narcotics trafficking (via drones) linked to Khalistanis and Pakistan-backed groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). While these threats have persisted, the transformations taking place in the technological realm have resulted in important developments. This has been particularly evident in the ways non-state actors evade surveillance, conduct logistical and operational planning aimed at carrying out acts of violence to undermine state security, and raise funds through........

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