Violent extremist groups targeting children online, Mounties warn

Groups using social-media platforms, online games to approach victims, cops say

Published Aug 27, 2024  •  2 minute read

Youth are being targeted by online extremist groups with the goal of convincing children to record acts of self-harm, suicide, animal torture or sexual abuse material. Photo by Techa Tungateja /Getty Images/iStockphoto

Canada’s federal police service is issuing a warning about online extremist groups targeting Canadian youth.

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Referring to these groups as ideologically motivated violent extremist (IMVE) entities, police warned they’re actively targeting online youth in the country with the goal of convincing the children to record or livestream acts of self-harm, suicide, animal torture or child sexual abuse material.

“The footage is then circulated among online networks and used to further control and extort the young victims,” said a news release from the RCMP and the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre.

“In many cases, perpetrators are minors themselves. Victims may end up being encouraged or coerced into victimizing others.”

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Members of these groups collect the footage as a means to spread their message, gain notoriety or simply to add to their collections.

Groups use social-media platforms or online games to reach out to their victims, including Minecraft, Roblox, Discord, Telegram, Twitch and Steam, the RCMP said.

Law enforcement organizations have previously identified Telegram and Discord as the two main platforms used by these groups.

“This type of offence usually starts with a direct message through gaming platforms and can move to more private chatrooms on other virtual platforms, typically one with video-enabled features, where the conversation quickly becomes sexualized or violent,” police said. 

Victims are sometimes asked to carve group or user names into their skin, produce sexual material or harm family pets.

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Child sexual material is normally used for sextortion, but instead of money or sexual gratification the culprits use it to coerce victims to produce more content.

While groups like the 764 Network are among the most prevalent, other identified groups targeting children include Court, Kaskar, Harm Nation and others.

In an article published by Wired earlier this year, law enforcement organizations said they believe these networks operate as an interconnected and international swath of predators.

Warning signs to watch out for include the sudden arrival of anonymous gifts — either physical or in-game currency or property — the appearance of unexplained injuries or wounds, newfound interest in antisocial or extremist causes and changes in the behaviour of family pets.

Parents who suspect their child has been contacted or is being groomed by members of these groups are asked to contact cybertip.ca or their local police.

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X: @bryanpassifiume

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