Parents are being warned to watch out for the signs of online recruitment and exploitation of children and youth by violent extremist groups.
The RCMP’s National Security Program and the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre issued a warning today to parents and guardians about the threat these groups pose to vulnerable young people.
Police say Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist, or IMVE entities, target children online, often on publicly available platforms, including gaming platforms, social media sites and mobile applications popular among youth.
The goal, according to police, is to “get them to record or live-stream acts of self-harm, suicide, animal torture, and/or produce child sexual abuse material.”
The video is then circulated among online in order to further control and extort victims.
Police say the perpetrators can also be minors, and victims may be encouraged or coerced into victimizing others.
The objective is to “spread an ideology, gain notoriety, collect extreme violent online content, and rise in status within a group.”
The groups reach out via direct messages to children and teens on gaming platforms.
The conversations are then moved to more private chatrooms on other virtual platforms that could have video enabled features where they can become sexualized or violent.
The RCMP says sextortion is not used to extract money or for sexual gratification, but to “manipulate and control victims to produce more harmful and violent content as part of their ideological objectives and radicalization pathway.”
One IMVE group is commonly known as the 764 network (or “the com”) but also uses other aliases.
Some of the largest sub-groups are known are CVLT, Court, Kaskar, Harm Nation, Leak Society, 7997, 8884, 2992, 6996, 555, Slit Town, 545, 404, NMK, 303, and H3ll.
The RCMP says the concerning of their crimes is the sexual exploitation, harm inflicted on children and animals, and attempting to get victims to commit suicide on camera.
There are indicators that a child could be the target of an IMVE group. Police say that one indicator alone may not be significant, but in clusters or with the totality of circumstances, may indicate attempted recruitment. Police recommend watching for the following behaviour:
-Youth are on the mobile application Discord, Telegram or other encrypted communications platforms and for which you have no visibility as a parent.
-They are receiving anonymous gifts, items delivered to your home, currency, gaming currency or other virtual items.
-They are demonstrating an interest or affinity to extreme messaging online, including conspiracy theories, anti-government rhetoric, or sympathy/support toward extreme messaging or online propaganda.
-They are demonstrating a newfound and abrupt interest in questioning or rejecting moral constraints on their behaviour, together with an interest in Nazism, school shootings, serial killers, or occultism.
-Family pets or other animals are being harmed or die suspiciously.
-You notice a family pet is uncharacteristically avoiding or fearful of your child or you.
-Writing in blood or what appears to be blood.
-They have a new online “friend” or network they seem infatuated with and/or scared of.
-They are covering their skin in unusual ways.
-They are going through more bandages, or showing evidence of cuts, carvings on their skin, stab wounds and more.
-They are more quiet than usual and uncharacteristically withdrawn.
-They are excessively moody and on edge.
-Their grades are dropping.
-They are spending more time on the internet, unsupervised or alone in their room.
-They are spending more money online or asking for money more often than usual.
-They are scrawling names and/or numbers in notebooks, diaries, loose papers.
The RCMP says Canadian victims have come forward and there are likely more victims across the country.
Parents, guardians and adults in positions of authority are asked to contact Cybertip.ca or the local police if a child or youth is being targeted or exploited.
