Overview
- The Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened proceedings against a 14-year-old on suspicion of spreading Islamic State propaganda and using banned IS symbols publicly.
- Police detained the boy and searched his home, seizing a knife and electronic devices that contained extremist material.
- Investigators discovered multiple social media profiles on TikTok and other platforms featuring IS-themed videos, posts and a pledge of allegiance to the IS caliph.
- Prosecutors clarified that the investigation does not include any terror suspicion or concrete plans for an attack on a Christmas market despite earlier media reports.
- North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul warned that social media platforms like TikTok are accelerating youth radicalization and urged stronger regulation.