Recent international reports and arrests linked to online groups such as “764” or “No Lives Matter” highlight a worrying trend: young people being drawn into online networks that promote harm, coercion and violence. These groups are often referred to as “com networks” with a number of them being officially designated as terrorist organisations in various jurisdictions in recent months. Unlike traditional extremist groups, these organisations are not driven by clear or traditional radical motivations. Instead, the goal is often focused on shock, control and harm as the end goal and for its own sake.
While the recent arrests and accounts of harm have largely emerged from abroad, the underlying dynamics are not confined by geography. The internet is global, which means these risks are just as relevant in Ireland. In recent weeks An Garda Siochana have confirmed their participation in a global taskforce to address the issue of Com Networks, highlighting this evolving form of online harm targeting children and young people. This makes awareness and early conversations in our home and our schools especially important.
How these groups operate online
They are not hidden in dark corners of the internet. They often use mainstream platforms, including gaming spaces and common messaging apps, to first make contact with young people. From there, conversations are moved into private spaces where the behaviour can quickly escalate, forming decentralised yet organised communities that are difficult to detect or shut down.
What makes these groups especially dangerous is that different forms of harm can happen at the same time, as a recent expert coined as a “hybridisation of harms”, where different types of abuse occur together: sexual exploitation, cybercrime, bullying, and the encouragement of real-world violence, all occurring within the same online environment.
How vulnerable young people are targeted
They actively seek out young people who feel isolated, anxious, or disconnected. They often use standard and well recognised grooming tactics; what can feel like genuine online connection, humour, friendship or romantic attachments, to build trust quickly and draw young people off these mainstream spaces into more private spaces. Once this occurs, these young people may be encouraged or pressured to:
- share personal or explicit content,
- take part in harmful or risky behaviour,
- prove loyalty to the “leader” or group through increasingly extreme acts, often recorded or shared.
In many cases, the same young person may be both a victim and, under pressure, made to participate in recruiting and harming others.
An awareness of these networks is critical in recognising their harmful effects. In our next update we’ll explore what parents, educators and our policy makers can do to recognise and mitigate the possible impacts of this newly emerging form of online victimisation.