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Far-right online content is a danger to children – but I’ve seen how it can radicalise older people, too | April O’Neill

Paul went from talking about birdwatching to sharing videos of Tommy Robinson and embracing conspiracy theories. Who is protecting him?April O’Neill is the winner of the 2025 Emerging Voices award (19-25 age category) recognising young talent in political opinion writingSome people should never have a smartphone – and I want to tell you about one of them. For the past couple of decades, Paul* had a classic Nokia brick-style phone. He could make calls – even send the odd text if we were lucky. But, a few years ago, he got a smartphone. At first, nothing changed much. He was reconnecting with friends, discovering emojis – there were no concerns. It has only been recently that the phone has become a problem, and that’s because he has stumbled across social media. And he is on it constantly.What do we know about Paul? He has time on his hands and, having grown up in an era when encyclopedias were the main source of knowledge, he has little media literacy when it comes to analysing sources and figuring out which ones he should trust. I can see why he probably takes it for granted that what he reads on his phone is true.April O’Neill is the winner of The Guardian Foundation’s 2025 Emerging Voices Awards (19-25 age category) recognising young talent in political opinion writing*Name has been changed Continue reading...

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