9 Investigates: FBI works to protect teens from exposure to ISIS propaganda

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates examined a fight to protect local children and teens from extremist propaganda online.

The FBI told Eyewitness News anchor Nancy Alvarez today that agents have intervened in multiple cases nationwide, including some in Florida, where attempts were made to radicalize young people.

Alvarez visited a local Islamic school to see what's being done to keep children and the community safe.

Alvarez met up with Nusrat Vorajee. As a mother of two teenagers, Vorajee shares the same worries as all parents. But for Vorajee there is an added layer of concern.

“Unfortunately, Muslim kids are being targeted,” she told Alvarez.

And as the media technology director of an Islamic school in Orlando, Vorajee’s job is to keep the children safe.

“They are like my kids, so obviously I want to protect them,” she said.

She wants to keep them safe from propaganda videos created by ISIS and other terrorist groups with the aim of recruiting young people.

In the last year, more than 70 people in the United States were charged with crimes related to supporting terrorism.

But Muslim leaders said the real fight begins at schools and community centers where impressionable, young children are taught.

At Vorajee's school, the use of social media is not allowed on campus. Restrictions have been set on devices, and she is working on installing software that will monitor students’ activities online.

The other half of the battle is at home.

“No parent can police their children 24/7,” explains Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.

“They might be physically in the room, but on their computer they may be somewhere else in the world,” Musri told Alvarez.

He is especially concerned with the high quality of some of the videos.

“They can affect young, impressionable minds of teenagers more than they do adults who can discern right from wrong,” he said.

That is why Musri is relentless in his message, making sure kids at the school are free to talk and ask questions, urging them to report anything unusual, denouncing the message sold by ISIS and reminding his youngest followers that ISIS isn’t what Islam is all about.

“It is really distorting the image of our faith and our community,” Musri said

On Monday, the FBI joined Alvarez at the Islamic Center to talk more about this issue. An agent told Alvarez that the bureau is especially concerned with terrorists trolling violent, gaming websites for children who are already exposed to violence through those games.

The agent also gave Eyewitness News an exclusive look at a new program created to deal with this problem. The computer program is a new tool designed to fight terrorism.

The front line is the classroom, where FBI special agent Dave Couvertier says the threat is real.

“We start looking at things like San Bernardino where you have an individual who was raised here, from here and he was radicalized,” Couvertier told Alvarez.

Couvertier met Alvarez at the school run by the Islamic Society of Central Florida. It’s just the kind of place where leaders say this new program will be an invaluable resource.

“We have parents asking how do I do this or do that,” Imam Musri said. “Many parents don't have the technical skills to meet this challenge.”

The program explores everything about extremism -- what it is and how terrorists target children online. There's an emphasis on social media and violent, gaming websites where terrorist groups may find children especially vulnerable to radicalization.

“They get into a mindset that this is normal,” Couvertier said. “It normalizes killing and stabbing and bombing.”

The program itself works like a video game, asking kids to complete different levels. It will be available for free and the FBI and Islamic leaders say it will be another tool to keep children and the community safe.

“Don't believe it's not gonna happen to you because it's happened to so many parents,” said Couvertier.

“The best protection is to educate the child,” Musri added.

The program took a year to create and the FBI consulted with multiple groups, including community leaders and psychologists.

It is ready for parents and teachers to use

Cox Media Group