Think about radicalisation as a process of change where a person undergoes a transformation over a period of time. This can be a gradual change or because of the increasing threat of online radicalisation, one that can also happen quite fast.
Ali told police he had first come into contact with a man called Abu Qatada, whom he believed to be an IS member fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, while playing online games such as Roblox.
Police said the teenager, who was 15 at the time he was arrested, was part of extreme right-wing online chat groups on platforms such as Telegram, Snapchat, TikTok and Wire.
Det Ch Supt James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: "This case provides a stark reminder around the dangers of extreme content online that is accessible to the public and how individuals can be drawn into serious offending."
These fake videos have become part of a much wider trend - where online influencers and content creators portray Western cities such as London, Manchester, San Francisco or New York as overrun with immigrants and crime.
It has been dubbed "decline porn". These narratives - often exaggerated or fabricated, some obviously satirical - are fuelling anger and racist backlash among some viewers who take them at face value.
The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, a Guardian investigation has found.
Today, we have an extraordinary confession from someone purporting to be the TikToker in question. They are just one person in a sea of online hate content. But their explanation of their actions helps shed light on the motivations behind a wider online trend.
London is being used as the backdrop for inaccurate viral videos that reach enormous audiences around the world by playing into the worst stereotypes about the capital.
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