Nihilist violent extremist groups, including the Com Network\u2019s 764<\/a>, MKY and O9A groups, as well as the True Crime Community (TCC), \u201care deliberately targeting vulnerable children and youth online. Their stated objective is not ideological change, but the destruction of society,\u201d Const. Claude Chancy, a Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) public information officer, told reporters Friday.<\/p>\nAny kid willing to do what the predators tell them to is allowed to join, but some are more likely to be sought out.<\/p>\n
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Chancy said predators look for vulnerable kids who feel insecure and share those feelings online. Specifically, youth posting about body image issues, mental health struggles or being neurodivergent are targeted.<\/p>\n
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\u201cPredators exploit these voluntary online disclosures by fabricating shared experiences to build false trust, then systematically introduce victims to increasingly violent and disturbing material, including child sexual abuse material, animal torture and gore, as part of a deliberate desensitization process,\u201d the constable said.<\/p>\n
The youth are eventually taken into private online spaces. Once alone, predators intensify the grooming to collect blackmail, Chancy said.<\/p>\n
Those materials can include videos of the young person hurting themselves, their siblings or their pets. Children are also being asked to vandalize areas with hate-driven graffiti, police said.<\/p>\n
Sometimes this abuse is livestreamed, Chancy added.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtortion here is not used for financial gain. It is a tool used to extract more material and\u00a0ultimately push\u00a0victims towards taking their own lives or the lives of others,\u201d Chancy said.<\/p>\n
Const. Andrea Lefort, the WPS expert in the field of violent extremism, said it is important to take the threats seriously as they are occurring everywhere, not just in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing acts of violence that are happening in real life that are originating in online spaces, sometimes involving people locally,\u201d Lefort said.<\/p>\n
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Police said some Winnipeg kids have been victimized but did not provide further details on the ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t arrest our way out of this problem,\u201d Lefort said.<\/p>\n
No specific gender is sought out more often, but what the predators ask for varies. Girls may be asked for intimate images, whereas boys are targeted for money, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the thing that they hold over the kid\u2019s head to force them to keep committing these acts that they don\u2019t want to do,\u201d Lefort continued.<\/p>\n
Police say they have identified some signs to differentiate between typical teenage angst and the emotional turmoil of dealing with violence and online pressures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a child that\u2019s maybe breaking curfew or that seems a little sad or a little bit down. We\u2019re talking about children that are having a complete change in their behaviour,\u201d Lefort said.<\/p>\n
Parents might notice their child\u2019s emotions intensify. Others may show an unusual desperation to reconnect to the web, where the extremist groups exist, she added.<\/p>\n
Police said they will continue working with emergency services, school districts and the HSC Children\u2019s Hospital to share information and work to stop the online abuse.<\/p>\n
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