Beyond the Headlines: How do people become radicalised online and can we stop it?

A New Zealand judge sentenced a man responsible for two deadly mosque attacks to life in prison without parole on Thursday, saying the punishment was not enough for the “wicked” crimes.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 29, admitted 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act during the rampage in Christchurch last year, which he live-streamed.

It was the first time a court in New Zealand had sentenced anyone to spend the rest of their life in jail.

This week on Beyond The Headlines, we explore how people are radicalised online and what can be done to prevent it.

We speak to Athina Tzemprin from Moonshot CVE, an organisation that works to prevent online radicalisation, and Jesse Morton, a former recruiter for Al Qaeda, who co-founded counter-extremism consultancy Parallel Networks, to find out how people can be steered away from harmful ideologies.

Chelsea Daymon, a doctoral candidate at the American University in Washington, DC tells us about her research, which involved joining ISIS groups on social media to learn more about them.