They’re Recruiting Our Children

TikTok replaced the social graph with the algorithm. Gaming platforms replaced traditional social environments. And generative AI has removed the barriers between languages, domains and audiences.The result is a compression of how people discover, evaluate, and act.In the business world, we are always wondering how we can compress the marketing funnel. Can we move through the phases of awareness, consideration, evaluation, and purchase faster? With AI, we can as sales cycles that took months can now happen in days. Wonderful.Unfortunately, extremist groups have come to the same conclusion.They are no longer pursuing recruits step-by-step over time. That’s old school.They are engineering systems that compress exposure, trust, and commitment into a single, continuous experience—one that increasingly begins and ends with children.The data reflects the shift. In 2024, the UK reported that one in five terrorism-related arrests was for a young person under age 18. Better detection explains part of the increase—but not the magnitude. What has changed is the system and it is a system that directly impacts humans under the age of 18, which account for about one-third of the global population.The LeapfrogTraditional radicalization followed a sequence: exposure, ideological grooming, social belonging, commitment, and then action. It required time, proximity, and human effort. We know this cycle well.Today, those stages are no longer sequential. They are compressed—and in many cases, bypassed entirely.Social media provides reach. Gaming provides trust. Private networks provide control. Language provides conversion efficiency.On TikTok, algorithmic recommendation engines push content to users without intent. Exposure is passive, continuous, and personalized. A user does not have to search. They are found.From there, engagement often shifts into gaming environments—platforms that function as trusted social spaces, particularly for younger users. These are not viewed as risky environments. After all, this is where friendships are formed, identities are shaped, and precious time is spent.That trust matters. Because radicalization rarely begins with ideology. It begins with belonging.One documented example is a loosely organized online extremist network, the “764 Network,” which often starts in a gaming platform. Initial contact is made in-game. From there, users can be invited into private servers, where interaction becomes more controlled, more persistent, and more difficult to monitor. The conversion event is not belief—it is migration into a closed environment.This pattern is not new. ISIS and other groups have long used a similar model—broad distribution across open platforms followed by migration to encrypted channels like Telegram. What is new is the speed, scale, and accessibility of the system—and the age of the participants.Artificial intelligence is now accelerating the process further.A human recruiter might manage five to ten conversations at once. An AI system can manage thousands in native language. It can triage, profile, and personalize interactions in real time. It can simulate peer relationships, maintain constant engagement, and adapt messaging dynamically.What once required time and effort now requires only access.And for younger users, the system is particularly effective.Children are more exposed to algorithmic content. They spend more time in gaming environments. They are in earlier stages of identity formation, actively seeking belonging and meaning. And they are less likely to distinguish between human and synthetic interaction.It is reasonable to conclude this system doesn’t just reach children—it is optimized for them.If we map this to the marketing funnel, the structure becomes clear:- TikTok provides awareness through algorithmic reach- Gaming platforms provide consideration through social interaction- AI enables evaluation through personalized reinforcement- Private networks like Telegram enable conversion and commitmentWhat once took months—or years—can now happen in days. The recruitment funnel is compressed.There are additional accelerants.Language has become a major force multiplier. Groups like Al-Shabaab now release content simultaneously in multiple languages, dramatically expanding reach and reducing friction for local audiences. AI enables instant localization at scale.At the same time, platform defenses have not kept pace.Much of the current counterterrorism framework was built for an earlier version of the internet—one that was public, adult, and relatively easy to monitor. Today’s environments are different: private servers, encrypted messaging, voice chat, and friends-only networks.Gaming platforms in particular sit largely outside traditional terrorism policy frameworks. Moderation is limited, visibility is constrained, and activity often occurs in spaces that were never designed for oversight.Even where monitoring exists, it is uneven. Think of it this way. Extremists focus on any language that does not generate enough revenue or political pressure to support investment in human moderators and AI classifiers. Less common languages such as Amharic, Burmese, Pashto, Indonesian, Swahili, Kurdish and many other languages represent platform blind spots that can be exploited at scale.A New Recruitment ModelThis new recruitment funnel can be summarized as the 3Cs.Capture – attention via algorithmConnect – trust via social environmentsConvert – behavior via AI persuasionThat convergence is the breakthrough.It is not simply an increase in activity—it is a structural shift.The age floor of who is targeted for recruitment is dropping because the system now favors it.It is earlier, faster, and more scalable to reach youth, occurring in environments that were never designed to defend against it.And that is the point. We are no longer dealing with a content problem. We are dealing with a system design problem.The question is not whether children will encounter these situations. They will. It is whether the systems around them are built to stop or slow them.Today, they are not.The Cipher Brief is committed to publishing a range of perspectives on national security issues submitted by deeply experienced national security professionals. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of The Cipher Brief.Have a perspective to share based on your experience in the national security field? Send it to Editor@thecipherbrief.com for publication consideration.Read more expert-driven national security insights, perspective and analysis in The Cipher Brief