Gaming, Digital Identity, and Escalation to Violence: Proposing a Digitally Mediated Radicalization Process Model

Digital platforms increasingly shape contemporary radicalization, yet their role is often treated as merely facilitative. This study proposes a Digitally Mediated Radicalization Process Model integrating cognitive opening, staircase dynamics, social identity processes, and online disinhibition. Using a qualitative design, five Indonesian forensic cases involving online gaming and extremist networks were examined through thematic and cross-case analysis. Findings indicate that radicalization unfolded through four stages: vulnerability, cognitive opening, virtual identity consolidation, and embodied commitment. Gaming did not function as a causal trigger, but as an arena for identity rehearsal under conditions of psychological vulnerability. Virtual identity consolidation emerged as an intermediary phase before operational escalation. The study challenges linear propaganda assumptions and identifies a meso-level mechanism linking vulnerability to mobilization. It suggests that prevention should focus on disrupting identity consolidation within peer-based digital ecosystems rather than targeting exposure alone.