'Significant' rise in online cults grooming vulnerable people into violence and child sexual abuse

Europol headquarters. The EU police agency said these networks — often featuring “charismatic leaders” — use the likes of gaming platforms, streaming services and everyday social media to identify, befriend and exploit vulnerable people. Picture: Europol

The EU police agency has issued an alert over a “significant” increase in online cults grooming children and vulnerable adults into a world of extreme violence and child sexual abuse.

Children’s groups and online watchdogs in Ireland said it highlights the dangers posed by online predators and the need for greater awareness among young people, parents and the education system and interventions by regulators and the justice system.

Europol said these networks — often featuring “charismatic leaders” — use the likes of gaming platforms, streaming services and everyday social media to identify, befriend and exploit vulnerable people.

It said some EU police agencies are investigating cases where people in these networks inflict serious injuries, and even murders, on family members or just passers-by. Europol said violent right-wing extremists are involved in pushing this phenomenon, with acts of violence crossing over into acts of terrorism, such as mass shootings.

The EU agency said the phenomenon of “young people being pressurised into joining cult communities has grown significantly” in recent years.

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In a briefing, it said: “The emergence of a variety of groups leveraging digital platforms which normalise acts of extreme cruelty, extort victims and radicalise individuals into performing acts of violent extremism, poses a serious threat to public safety.” 

It said these online groups are connected and form a network that recruits both offenders and victims across the world. “The content shared by individuals belonging to these groups is extremely violent, ranging from gore and animal cruelty to child sexual exploitation material (CSAM) and depictions of murder,” it said.

It said these criminal or violent extremist groups compete against each other to share the most violent content. 

They operate similarly to certain cults in which charismatic leaders use deception and manipulation to render their followers obedient and dependent on the cult. 

Europol said these groups analyse social media behaviour and deliberately target minors that show some indication of vulnerability.

“The most preferred targets are particularly vulnerable minors between eight and 17 years old – especially LGBTQ+, racial minorities and those struggling with mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal ideation,” it said.

They might even infiltrate online self-help groups and target people. Europol said the grooming can take three stages:

• Starts with innocent interactions, followed by tactics such as ‘love bombing’, in which the groomer treats the victim with extreme care, kindness and understanding while at the same time gathering personal information about them and their family;
• Once trust is gained moving the conversation to a private online space, typically with end-to-end encryption, where the victims are coerced into sharing explicit content or self-harming;
• Extortion then follows, where if more extreme content is not provided, the predators threaten to share existing content with families and friends. The more extreme content can range from sexually explicit imagery, to self-harm, attempted suicide and even suicide or acts of violence against family or just passers-by, up to and including murder.

Fiona Jennings, head of policy and public affairs at the ISPCC, said that they know from research they are conducting with TU Dublin, and other published reports, that online predators are “sophisticated and intelligent” and inflict “egregious harm” on children.

She said the We Protect Global Threat Assessment Report 2023 estimated that it can take “45 minutes” for a predator to move a child from an open forum to a closed one, but that it can take as little as "19 seconds".

She said: 

Cases of sextortion and the proliferation of child sexual abuse imagery are at an all-time high.

She said the predators often know children’s vulnerabilities better than they do themselves, and groom them into engaging in “inappropriate, dangerous, and life-impacting activities”.

Ms Jennings said: “It is imperative that our education system is responsive with opportunities for ongoing media literacy lessons and critical thinking skills and that our regulatory frameworks and criminal justice responses are agile and resourced appropriately.

“Again, we highlight the need for a national strategy for child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation and online risks to child safety as recommended by the Garda Inspectorate.” 

Mick Moran, chief executive of online watchdog hotline.ie, said the phenomenon highlighted by Europol was “an extreme version of sexual extortion that is currently a real problem for everyone, not least children”.

“Once the groom is successful and the compromising images or video are obtained, the victim is suddenly caught in a terrible trap,” he said. 

“In some cases, money is demanded, while in others the currency is control of the victim leading to demands for more sexual acts that get more and more brutal and depraved.” 

Mr Moran, who worked as a police officer for 34 years investigating child sexual abuse, said predators are banding together to take advantages of the economies of scale.

“This type of networked perversion and depravity is facilitated by the total anonymity available with little cost or difficulty on the darknet,” he said.

Hotline advice

He advised parents to talk to their children about engaging with strangers online.

“People you are taking to, people you are online gaming with, people you are connected to on TikTok or other networks are not your friends,” he said. 

"Do not share any images with someone online that you would not like printed out and posted on telegraph poles around your area.” 

But he added that if someone falls into the trap, “do not panic”.

He said: “There is plenty of non-judgmental and understanding help available. You are not alone. Contact Hotline.ie where we can work to get the images removed and help you report to the gardaí.” 

Ms Jennings said: “We encourage parents/carers to be as active and engaged as possible in their children’s online lives. We understand parents/carers have many competing priorities and that life can be busy. But to have an awareness of their child’s activities is an important starting point which they can then build on. Check out ISPCC’s Digital Ready Hub for more support.” 

The Europol briefing outlines a number of behaviours that parents or carers could look out for:

• Secrecy about online activities - hiding screens when approached, using multiple or anonymous accounts;
• Withdrawal and isolation - spending excessive time alone, distancing from family and friends;
• Emotional distress - sudden mood swings, signs of anxiety or depression;
• Interest in harmful content - fascination with extremist ideologies, symbols, dark themes and/or violent or graphic material;
• Changes in language or symbols used - using slang, codes, or symbols associated with the group;
• Concealing physical signs of harm - wearing long sleeves or trousers in unusual circumstances to hide signs of self-harm, injuries or coercion-related markings.