As Lao Dong reported, on September 7, functional agencies continued to clarify the case of a male student (born in 2011) using a weapon to attack 5 students of the same school in Thanh An commune, Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh City Police said that the male student had been treated for stress and adaptive disorders, and recently showed signs of psychological and emotional instability. This male student also accessed negative content from a group on foreign social networks. The police agency believes that this content may affect perceptions, prompting this male student to learn how to perform the act.
The issue of children being affected by online communities with violent content is also being warned by functional agencies in some Southeast Asian countries.
In Indonesia, in January 2026, counter-terrorism unit Densus 88 identified 70 teenagers related to online groups "True Crime Community", which share content about crime and violence; 67 children were included in the risk assessment, counseling and intervention program.
Authorities also increased prevention measures at schools, in which Densus 88 coordinated with the Ministry of Religious Affairs to train 150 teachers in Denpasar on identifying students at risk of being affected by extremist content on the internet, and at the same time recommended increasing monitoring of children's use of digital space and building an early detection mechanism.
In the Philippines, in March 2026, police discovered 7 children, all 15 years old, being influenced by an acquaintance through an online game community to plan a shooting. This person approached the children from January, guiding them to switch to another platform to find and buy guns.
The cybercrime unit tracked online activities and arrested the children before they could buy weapons. After the incident, the police directed increased surveillance of game communities and chat platforms, and coordinated with developers to detect and handle suspicious accounts.
In Singapore, in May 2026, the Internal Security Administration arrested a 14-year-old male student after discovering that he was preparing a knife attack targeting many people at school.
Authorities said she was radicalized by violent content online and online games, idolizing shooters, and even planning attacks. Singapore then requested an online platform to disable related videos and requested internet providers to block websites containing content honoring perpetrators and promoting violence.
The above cases show that online communities can manipulate children, normalize violence and promote dangerous behaviors. Family and school early recognition of abnormal changes in children can help prevent the risk early.
