A teenager who admitted planning a terrorist attack in Sydney in 2024 has told a court that he was "radicalised online," The Guardian reported. The report was written by Josh Taylor, the outlet's technology reporter.
According to the summary of the report, the teenager said he was first exposed to extremist material on TikTok. He then turned to Telegram and YouTube for bomb-making instructions, the outlet said. The summary presents these steps in sequence: first exposure on TikTok, then the search for instructions on Telegram and YouTube.
The same summary states that the teenager used ChatGPT to devise his plans, The Guardian reported. The summary does not describe how the chatbot was used beyond that point, or how the teenager's plans developed in relation to the material he said he had found online.
The summary describes the teenager as having admitted to planning the attack, which it places in 2024. It does not name the court in which he made his statements, describe any sentence or charges, or state whether anyone else was involved in the planning.
The summary also does not say whether the teenager's account of his online radicalisation has been tested or confirmed during the proceedings. Further details of the court case were not included in the material available for this story, and the account above reflects only what the summary states.