Dutch arrest 15 suspected of spreading Islamic State propaganda on TikTok

Dutch authorities arrested 15 people, including minors, for spreading Islamic State propaganda on TikTok, after posts with Dutch subtitles encouraged violence and recruitment.

Reuters

10 February 2026 at 13:06:57

Dutch arrest 15 suspected of spreading Islamic State propaganda on TikTok

FILE PHOTO: Teenagers pose for a photo while holding smartphones in front of a TikTok logo in this illustration taken September 11, 2025.

Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Fifteen people were arrested in the Netherlands on Tuesday on suspicion of spreading propaganda for Islamic State on TikTok and trying to persuade people to commit terrorist attacks, Dutch prosecutors said.

The arrests were triggered by a TikTok account that spread large amounts of IS propaganda with Dutch subtitles, the prosecutors said.

The TikTok posts, some with more than 100,000 views, encouraged people to join Islamic State and glorified becoming a martyr for the violent Islamist group, they said.

Thirteen of the suspects are Syrian, and four have Dutch nationality, prosecutors said, implying that some were dual nationals. Four are minors.

The suspects, aged 16 to 53, were detained in raids across the Netherlands, following the arrest last month of a person who the prosecutors said was the main suspect.

TikTok is owned by China's Bytedance.

-Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Kevin Liffey/Reuters