Inside the Online Gangs Where Boys Compete to be Cruel

Police warn of rising harm as groups of boys coerce children into self-harm and sexual exploitation on encrypted platforms.

Marilyn Hawes of Freedom From Abuse shares some worrying information about sadism, sexual abuse and self-harm - inside the online gangs where boys compete to be cruel

Infiltrating support groups online

The Com is international but has members based in the UK.

In January, teenager Cameron Finnigan from West Sussex was jailed for six years for offences relating to the Com. He was found guilty of possessing a terror manual, indecent images of a child, and encouraging suicide

Other tactics the Com use to intimidate their victims include doxxing, where personal info is gathered about a victim, and swatting - used to target mainly US victims - where fake threats are called in to police, provoking armed response units to be sent to their homes.

For over 20 years, I have been aware of these criminal networks. Others in positions of power knew even earlier. Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, admitted in January that he was aware of these crimes as far back as the mid-90s. That means this has been an open secret for over 30 years, yet little was done.

What the social media companies say

When approached for comment, Telegram, Discord and Roblox all told Sky News they took proactive steps to moderate harmful content on their platforms.

Telegram addressed the threat posed by The Com specifically, telling Sky News that it "removed all groups and channels linked to Com when they were discovered in February 2024."

The company added that it "has continually monitored over the past year to ensure that Com-linked communities cannot reemerge, resulting in the removal of hundreds of groups."

The only way to tackle this growing threat is to understand it.

"What we are seeing now is that level of hero worship applied to people who are encouraging others to do depraved things and abusing people in really reprehensible ways," says Dr Joe Ondrak, an expert in online radicalisation.

"When that behaviour is what is garnering hero worship and emulation, that's where the real risk is."

"You can quite easily lose your child," says Sally. What is needed, she says, is a "collaborative effort" involving gaming companies, schools and parents "to make sure our children are safe."

"Try to have meaningful conversations with your children," says James Babbage.

"The risk is we think of time spent online as safe time; it's within the house - how can there be dangers out there? But it isn't safe at all."

'My daughter is covered in scars'

For more than a year, Jo* didn't know her daughter, Mary*, was a victim of the Com (short for Community) - a sadistic network of online gangs that target young girl.

Mary was manipulated into sending self-harm and child sexual abuse content. According to Jo, it took a terrible toll on her daughter who stopped sleeping, became isolated from her friends and lost weight. Her body was also covered in scars.

Jo wants other parents to understand the risks of the Com, which the National Crime Agency describes as, an "unprecedented" threat. Her advice is to "delay access to the internet and use as many parental controls as possible."

"'[The Com] prey on vulnerable kids who are easier to manipulate... then start threatening them and demanding more extreme content", she adds.

Mary would tell her mother she was watching YouTube in the middle of the night when she was communicating with members of the Com. If Jo took her devices away, she would become distressed and "threaten suicide".

"I was so frightened of her dying that most of the time I chose to believe her," says Jo. "She had to be in contact around the clock or suffer the consequences."

The abuse, which included threats being made to Mary's family, has now stopped and police are investigating, but Jo is still scared. "I'm still frightened when her door is closed or when she goes to the bathroom, wondering if she's going to come back out."

Inside The Com

To better understand how The Com operates, Sky News recently examined a single Telegram account, run by the administrator of a group in which graphic material was shared. In their bio, they advertise "swatting services" for hire, letting customers pay to have police tricked into raiding homes, schools and religious buildings.

In another exchange, a user discusses self-harm. Sky News found this user was a member of 14 public Com groups on Telegram.

Ten of these groups have been deleted or deactivated by Telegram's moderators. Four were still accessible. The topics discussed in these groups included self-harm, animal abuse and violence.

Sky News also examined more affiliated chats and channels on Telegram.

These Telegram groups contained discussion of grooming and sexual exploitation, and the sharing of graphic images of people who appeared to be victims.

Members also appeared interested in animal cruelty, with one posting an image of a crucified rat positioned next to the name of a Com subgroup written in blood.

A Com chat group on Discord, which at one time had more than a thousand members, has a header image showing people playing the online children's game Roblox.

Sky News was able to view messages sent by members in another Com group on Discord that had 2,114 members. It had specific channels for male and female members to post photographs of themselves. In the main chatroom, users encouraged others to send intimate images. Grapes and self-harm were frequently joked about.

Users also frequently discussed Roblox, claiming they were grooming, extorting and engaging in sexual activity with users of the site.

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