MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. The Internet has become a source of various threats, including those from terrorists who use messenger apps to disseminate illegal content, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) head Alexander Bortnikov said in an interview Wednesday.

"In the era of mass digitalization and expansion of the world of communications, the Internet has become not only an important asset in our daily life, but also a source of various threats, including those coming from terrorists and extremists. Illegal content is being actively disseminated via social media," he said.

According to the FSB head, the fusion of political and marketing technologies of content promotion in a manner, similar to advertisement campaigns, allows international terror organizations to popularize themselves as a brand in the shortest timespan. In doing so, they attract new sympathizers, and coordinate the actions of their "closed" network communities.

"It is important to keep the youth, the main user of all technological novelties, from the influence of destructive forces," Bortnikov noted.

He disclosed that a systemic and thorough work is underway in order to prevent the dissemination of terrorist and extremist ideologies among the Russian youth, which is the most susceptible to radical ideas due to lack of their life experience and their youth maximalism.

"Simple solutions are being thrown in this medium, which require no deep consideration and prediction of consequences," the FSB head said, asking the parents to pay more attention to their children, watch their moods and note their communication circle.

According to Bortnikov, the protection of the Russian informational space is being constantly perfected, allowing for less and less opportunities to disseminate materials that promote or justify terrorism.

"Thus, efficient cooperation of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications and the law enforcement has already made possible to restrict access to hundreds of thousands of terrorist materials," the FSB head said, adding that about 65,000 new materials emerge every year.

"The federal list of extremist materials includes over 5,000 printed editions, movies, videos and music videos," Bortnikov said.