UK Charity Issues Public Warning Over 'Chilling' Hacking Network Targeting Children
A leading UK online safety charity has issued a stark public warning about a dangerous hacking community known as the Com, which is systematically targeting vulnerable children for sexual abuse, self-harm, and suicide. The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), founded by the family of Molly Russell—a British teenager who took her own life in 2017 after viewing harmful content online—has highlighted the extreme exploitation, cyberbullying, violence, and abuse perpetrated by these networks.
Report Details the Com's Global Reach and Harmful Activities
In partnership with the online risk consultancy Resolver, the MRF published a report describing the Com as a "loose but sprawling ecosystem of overlapping internet cultures, subcultures, behaviours, networks, groups and claimed ideologies, within a sprawling ecosystem of harm." This global network, primarily composed of 11- to 25-year-olds, has significant concentrations in the United States, Russia, and Brazil. Members share interests in online gore, illegal sexual content, gaming, cryptocurrencies, and meme culture, gathering on platforms like Discord and Telegram without any formal recruitment process.
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the MRF, emphasised the urgency of the situation, stating: "The growing threat posed by Com networks is the most chilling and urgent threat to children online today and it requires a swift and comprehensive response." He added that these groups prey on children's vulnerabilities, coercing and grooming girls on gaming and messaging platforms to inflict appalling harm, including acts of self-harm, livestreamed abuse, or even suicide.
Case Studies and Law Enforcement Concerns
The report includes harrowing case studies, such as one involving a mentally vulnerable adult manipulated by a Com chat group into travelling to a remote location in another country and fatally setting themselves alight on a livestream. Com members actively seek out victims in online communities dedicated to self-harm and eating disorders, sometimes creating fake support groups for this purpose. Victims are targeted on gaming platforms, livestreams, direct messaging apps, and social networks.
Law enforcement agencies in the UK and US have already issued public warnings about the Com, using terms like "nihilistic violent extremism" and "sadistic (online) exploitation" to describe its activities. In the UK, Cameron Finnigan, a 19-year-old from Horsham, West Sussex, and a member of a Com-linked group, was sentenced to nine years in prison for possessing a terrorist document and encouraging someone online to take her own life.
Three Distinct Groups Within the Com
The report categorises the Com into three interlinked groups:
- Sadism Com: Predators who carry out sexual extortion, grooming, and child sexual exploitation and abuse.
- Terror Com: Promotes far-right or nihilistic ideologies.
- Finance Com: Hacks big companies and other Com constituencies, with links to groups like Scattered Spider, which has been associated with hacks against British retailers Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods.
Female victims are highly valued targets for predominantly heterosexual male Com members and often face sexual violence, while male victims are subjected to psychological harm and suicide encouragement. The report notes that victims of Com abuse can sometimes become perpetrators themselves, perpetuating the cycle of harm.
Calls for Coordinated Global Response
The threats posed by the Com range from child sexual exploitation and abuse to extortion, self-harm, and severe harassment. The majority of victims are children and young people in vulnerable situations, often due to economic disadvantage, neurodivergence, or a history of self-harm and abuse. The report stresses that the psychological, sexual, and physical harms are global in scope and can escalate rapidly, sometimes within hours of contact with the victim.
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, responded to the findings, stating: "We will use every power we have to hunt down the perpetrators, shut these disgusting networks down, and protect every child at risk." The MRF and Resolver are calling for a coordinated global response from governments, regulators, law enforcement, and tech companies to address this urgent threat and safeguard vulnerable children worldwide.
