Teenage boys are grooming young girls into sexual abuse, self-harm and even suicide after forming “sadistic and violent online gangs”, the National Crime Agency has warned.
The gangs - formed mainly of boys - are sharing misogynistic posts, images of violence and gore, and child sexual abuse pictures in so-called “com networks”.
The NCA says it has seen a surge of reports – increasing six-fold - in the UK between 2022 and 2024, covering thousands of victims and culprits.
The crime-fighting agency spoke out on Tuesday alongside Government Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips to warn about the emerging phenomenon.
It comes after Netflix drama Adolescence – the most talked-about show this year - thrust on to the national agenda the impact of social media on children and the negative influences of the ‘manosphere’.
The Stephen Graham drama, which depicts the fallout from the murder of a schoolgirl by a 13-year-old boy, has led Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to welcome calls for it to be shown in schools.
The NCA has now published its annual National Strategic Assessment, which outlines the dangers of ‘com networks’ and social media which “routinely share harmful content and extremist or misogynistic rhetoric”.
It said: “Extreme and illicit imagery depicting violence, gore and child sexual abuse material is frequently shared amongst users, normalising and desensitising participants to increasingly extreme content and behaviours.
“‘Com’ networks use extreme coercion to manipulate their victims, who are often children, into harming or abusing themselves, their siblings or pets, and re-victimising them by doxing or appropriation by other offenders.
“Members of ‘Com’ networks are usually young men who are motivated by status, power, control, misogyny, sexual gratification or an obsession with extreme or violent material.
“The emergence of these types of online platforms are almost certainly causing some individuals, especially younger people, to develop a dangerous propensity for extreme violence.”
It comes shortly after Kyle Clifford was jailed for the rest of his life for the murders of his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, her sister Hannah, and her mother Carol in a horrific attack at their family home.
Clifford, 26, launched the attack with a crossbow and a knife after Louise had ended their relationship, after concerns about his controlling behaviour and racist views. Detectives then discovered he had watched a video from misogynist influencer Andrew Tate prior to the killings.
Graeme Biggar, director general of the NCA, said “deeply concerning” networks online are competing for notoriety by sharing increasingly disturbing content and inflicting escalating harm on their victims.
“Young people are being drawn into these sadistic and violent online gangs where they are collaborating at scale to inflict, or incite others to commit, serious harm”, he said.
“These groups are not lurking on the dark web, they exist in the same online world and platforms young people use on a daily basis.
“It is especially concerning to see the impact this is having on young girls who are often groomed into hurting themselves and in some cases, even encouraged to attempt suicide.”
Mr Biggar urged parents and carers to speak to children about what they are doing online, and added that some victims may not realise a crime has been committed against them because they have been groomed.
Ms Phillips hit out at the “absolutely horrific” online abuse and called for a “co-ordinated response to tackle this global issue.
“We have seen the heartbreaking impact of crimes such as grooming and sextortion on victims around the world - many of them children who have been blackmailed and manipulated into sharing images of themselves, which has devastatingly led to some children taking their own lives.”
She added: “My message to parents is to have open conversations with your children and to seek support if you are concerned about child sexual abuse.
“My message to tech companies is simple: this is your responsibility too. You must ensure your platforms are safe for children, so that we can protect the most vulnerable and put predators behind bars.”
Undercover police officers have been deployed to track down online networks and expose offenders, and police forces have echoed calls for social media companies to do more to help tackle the problem.
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, called on the Government and regulator Ofcom to take action over extreme material online.
He said: “These horrendous groups pose a deeply disturbing and sharply growing risk to children, especially teenage girls who are being sadistically groomed into acts of self-harm and even suicide online.
“Despite being repeatedly warned of the threat posed by these groups, Ofcom has failed to introduce a single targeted measure to tackle disturbing suicide and self-harm offences. This glaring gap in its regulatory regime must be closed.
“The Prime Minister must now take decisive action to ensure the Online Safety Act is fit for purpose in the face of new online risks and the threat posed by the fluid ideologies that are fuelling this troubling wave of extreme violence.”
