Incel Culture and Right-Wing Radicalisation Fuel Growing Concern

The United Kingdom is seeing a worrying spike in youth radicalisation tied to both extreme right-wing ideologies and the spread of incel culture—a violent and misogynistic worldview that targets young men in isolation. According to new government data, the number of referrals to the Prevent strategy, the UK’s counter-terrorism program, rose by 30% last year. Out of 6,406 cases referred, 42% were flagged for right-wing extremist views.

This surge is prompting renewed scrutiny over how online influencers and digital subcultures are shaping the minds of vulnerable adolescents—particularly boys—during their most impressionable years.

The February release of Andrew and Tristan Tate back into the United States after facing human trafficking and sexual abuse charges in Romania cast a fresh spotlight on the issue. Andrew Tate, a self-described “alpha male” influencer with millions of followers, has built a vast online empire by targeting disaffected young men with messages glorifying dominance, contempt for women, and conspiracy-laden politics. His content and rhetoric are widely considered to be entry points into more radical ideological echo chambers.

While Prevent was originally created to stop terrorist recruitment and violence from Islamist extremist groups, its scope has expanded to include domestic extremism, including far-right ideologies and the rapidly growing threat of misogynist radicalisation online. Experts warn that these issues are becoming deeply intertwined—fueled by online forums, influencers, and algorithms that reward rage-driven content.

“Incel culture preys on isolation; it turns vulnerability into resentment. It gives young people—especially teen boys—a script that blames women for their pain and glorifies anger as power. It doesn’t just warp how they see relationships, it distorts how they see themselves. What starts as loneliness can quickly harden into entitlement, creating a worldview where empathy is weakness and connection feels out of reach,” shares Linsey Lunny, CEO of Hidden Strength, a mental health platform that offers free support to young people.

According to Lunny and others working in youth mental health, these subcultures often hook teens when they are at their lowest—struggling with identity, belonging, or rejection. What starts with online venting about loneliness or heartbreak can quickly escalate into immersion in extremist communities that feed off resentment and anger. Social platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit have been called out for failing to effectively moderate such content or break the algorithmic feedback loops that push vulnerable users toward increasingly toxic content.

Incel, short for “involuntarily celibate,” is not just an internet slang term. It has evolved into a belief system marked by deep misogyny, emotional disconnection, and often, glorification of violence. Multiple mass shootings in the U.S. and Canada have been linked to self-identified incels, prompting some countries to label the movement as a form of domestic terrorism.

“Incel culture is a culture of violence, and it is a rampant problem among today’s young people,” the article’s source notes. “When teens are taught that rejection is humiliation and that intimacy is something owed to them, they grow up disconnected from the emotional intelligence that real connection requires. We don’t need more rage—we need to teach belonging, respect, and self-worth.”

Youth support platforms and school-based mental health professionals are now sounding the alarm about the lack of early intervention tools to combat this issue. While counter-terrorism strategies like Prevent focus on stopping acts of violence before they happen, many experts argue that the psychological grooming that leads to radicalisation begins far earlier and far more subtly—in comment sections, group chats, and Discord servers.

To combat this growing trend, advocates are calling for stronger digital education in schools, more oversight of influencer content, and better access to anonymous mental health support for young people. Some also say there needs to be a deeper cultural shift around how boys and men are taught to process rejection, emotion, and vulnerability.

With referrals to Prevent rising and public cases like the Tate brothers bringing global attention to the issue, the UK—and many other countries—are being forced to reckon with a new kind of extremism, one that doesn’t always look like traditional terrorism, but can be just as corrosive.

And for young people caught in the crosshairs, the solution may not just be stricter policies—but a new narrative of empathy, belonging, and connection to replace the void that extremism too often fills.