Terrorist threats can cross borders through ideas, support and coordination, even when the person planning violence stays in one country.
A person encounters an overseas group's violent propaganda online: messages intended to win support for its ideas and violence. The person begins supporting attacks in their own country. The influence crosses a border even though the person has not travelled.
Terrorism uses or threatens violence to create fear and intimidate a wider audience in pursuit of political or ideological aims. Ideological aims reflect beliefs about how society should be organised. Transnational means across national borders. Terrorism can have such links through recruitment (seeking supporters), funding, coordination or influence from abroad.
Global communications allow extremist messages to reach distant audiences. Transport and financial links can also connect people or resources in different countries. Radicalisation here means coming to support extremist violence. A person can do so without joining a terrorist organisation; online material is one possible influence in self-radicalisation.
Exposure does not automatically cause radicalisation, and peaceful religious or political beliefs are not evidence of terrorism. Assess support for violence, intentions and actions. No religion, ethnicity, nationality, age or gender makes someone inherently a terrorist threat.
Worked example: An overseas influence on a local threat
Investigators find that a resident has been following propaganda produced by a violent group abroad. The resident urges attacks to advance that group's political aims and expresses an intention to commit violence locally. The resident has not travelled overseas or become a formal member of the group.
- The support for violence to advance political aims is relevant to assessing a terrorist threat. Holding an unpopular opinion alone would not establish this.
- The propaganda links the local threat to an overseas influence. Transnational connections need not involve the attacker physically crossing a border.
- The lack of formal membership does not remove that connection. An individual can be influenced without belonging to an organised local cell.
- The evidence concerns this person's conduct. It does not justify suspicion towards everyone who shares their background.
Watch out for this
A terrorist threat is transnational only when the attacker comes from another country.
Look for cross-border connections in influence, support or coordination as well as travel. A local person influenced by an overseas violent movement can be part of a transnational threat.
Check your understanding
A resident who has never left the country expresses plans for ideological violence after following an overseas extremist network online. What makes the threat transnational?
- Nothing, because the resident has not crossed a border.
- The violent ideas and influence have crossed borders through online connections.
- Everyone using an overseas website is a terrorism threat.