In brief
The National Crime Agency in Britain warns that online gangs are increasingly enticing teens into dangerous and harmful behaviors, revealing a significant surge in related reports over the past two years.
Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) has raised urgent concerns about a growing threat to teenagers from online entities that exploit them, warning of a disturbing pattern of sadistic and misogynistic behavior among these groups. In its latest annual crime trends report, the agency disclosed a dramatic sixfold increase in incidents linked to such online communities between 2022 and 2024, indicating an alarming trend in grooming and blackmail of young people.Graeme Biggar, director general of the NCA, remarked, “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 emphasized that these dangers are not confined to the dark corners of the internet; rather, they manifest within the very platforms that young people frequent daily. Disturbingly, reports indicate that young girls are being groomed into self-harming practices, with some even pressured to contemplate suicide.The NCA's National Strategic Assessment for 2024 identified that while adults may also participate in these networks, teenage boys are particularly involved in disseminating harmful content aimed at younger girls, with victims as young as 11 being targeted. The agency stressed the urgency for increased awareness and proactive measures to protect vulnerable youth from the corrosive influences of these online gangs.
