NZ terrorism threat ‘low’ but vigilance needed to spot lone wolves - Editorial

A victim of the 2021 LynnMall terrorist knife attack being rushed to hospital. Photo / Alex Burton

Editorial

THE FACTS

• New Zealand’s terrorism threat level is assessed as low, and yet a terrorist attack cannot be ruled out.
• A radicalised “lone wolf” is most likely to carry out such an attack.
• Kiwis have been urged to remain vigilant as AI and online posts are used to fuel ideology.

New Zealand’s terrorism threat level continues to be “low”, according to the Security Intelligence Service‘s annual threat assessment report, but that doesn’t mean we can relax and assume we are safe from attack.

In reality, no one can predict exactly when, where and how a terrorist attack will happen. On a sunny Friday afternoon, in March 2019, no one guessed that a lone, radicalised gunman would kill 51 people and injure another 40, at two mosques in Christchurch.

And in September 2021, shoppers at a New Lynn supermarket could never have imagined that five terrified victims would be left seriously injured after a frenzied knife attack by Islamic State sympathiser Ahamed Samsudeen.

Although Samsudeen was known to the police – he was shot dead within minutes by two plainclothes officers following him - he was considered low-risk.

Both were effectively lone wolves, unpredictable and lurking in plain sight.

The SIS‘s report, released earlier this month, warns that another terrorist attack is a realistic possibility and says it is concerned that Kiwis underestimate the impact of such an attack.

The most plausible attack, it says, is from a “lone actor who has radicalised online and prepares for violence without any intelligence forewarning”.

The message here is that there is no room for complacency. We can no longer sit back and assume the Government, the police and the SIS will keep us safe. We all have a part to play.

Parents, caregivers, teachers and anyone in regular contact with young people can watch for signs of isolation, concerning behaviour and increasingly radical viewpoints online, and do something about it.

SIS director-general Andrew Hampton wants the public to report any concerns. He talks of an increasingly polarised online environment, including a “global resurgence of the Islamic State’s propaganda”, which has the potential to lead vulnerable people astray or fuel violent ideology.

AI is making harmful propaganda appear more authentic, allowing it to be spread at scale and speed, he says. Misplaced agitation and “blame for perceived societal ills” are spread by algorithms that push controversial content.

“AI is making harmful propaganda appear more authentic and allows it to be spread at scale and speed,” Hampton says.

New Zealanders, watching geopolitics, wars and the jostling of superpowers play out from afar, may feel powerless to make much of a difference.

But they can help to keep their home turf safe by being vigilant. It was everyday Kiwis who noted down odd goings-on that helped New Zealand police catch the French secret-service agents responsible for the Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years ago.

That same vigilance by everyday Kiwis is more crucial than ever to spot the lone wolves.

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