Densus 88 Says TCC Not Related to Homegrown Terrorism
JAKARTA - The National Police's Anti-Terrorism Unit (Densus 88) has confirmed that the findings of the True Crime Community (TCC) involving children are not related to homegrown terrorism. However, in a different case previously revealed by the authorities, some children do have a family background that is connected to a terrorist network.
Spokesperson for the Densus 88 Anti-Terror Police, Kombes Mayndra Eka Wardhana, said that in the previous release, the number of children identified had increased from 110 to 112 people. In this case, although the children were ISIS-minded, there was a link to homegrown terrorism.
"In addition to having links to homegrown terrorism, some of them have family backgrounds, such as fathers who have been involved in homegrown terrorism factions," said Kombes Mayndra at the Bareskrim Police Headquarters building, South Jakarta, December 7, 2025.
However, he emphasized that this pattern was not found in the TCC case. According to him, TCC is purely a phenomenon of global violence that develops in the digital space and has no direct relationship with domestic terrorist networks.
"In this True Crime Community, there is no element of homegrown terrorism. This is purely an interest in the global violent genre that then entered and developed in Indonesia," he said.
Mayndra also highlighted the role of social media algorithms in accelerating the process of exposure and recruitment based on violent content (algorithmic recruitment), especially for children and adolescents who are still psychologically vulnerable.
He gave an example, data from the K-12 School Shooting Database which recorded a significant spike in cases of violence, especially shootings at schools, during the COVID19 pandemic. This phenomenon, he said, occurred in various countries, not only in Indonesia.
"This is a warning that exposure to violence in the digital space is global and cross-country, so it requires comprehensive cross-sectoral handling," he concluded.