In brief
Australian authorities have issued warnings about the alarming trend of crime networks targeting young girls online. These gangs, comprised mainly of young men promoting a dangerous mix of ideologies, employ manipulation tactics through popular gaming and messaging platforms. With almost 60 offenders identified and three arrests made, new initiatives, including AI-driven detection tools, are being put in place to combat this issue as the nation prepares for social media regulations aimed at protecting minors.
Australian girls are being hunted by online crime networks and coerced into acts of violence - against themselves, their siblings or pets - in a 'twisted type of gamification', police have warned.
A new Australian taskforce has been set up to help the globe tackle this 'new and disturbing front in traditional gender-based violence', Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett said in a speech on Wednesday.
Three people have already been arrested in Australia, and another nine people around the world.
The nature of the acts being committed by targets were not detailed, but Ms Barrett says the alleged perpetrators hold violent extremist views and want to hurt people 'for fun'.
Aged in their late teens or early 20s and largely from Western backgrounds, they recruit pre-teen or teenage girls through gaming platforms such as Roblox or messaging apps such as Discord and Telegram.
The boys and men, whom Ms Barrett calls 'crimefluencers', subscribe to a variety of ideologies - including nihilism, sadism, Nazism and satanism - and they target girls with low self-esteem and mental health disorders.
'These groups have a similar culture to multiplayer, online gaming culture, and hunt, stalk and draw in victims from a range of online platforms,' she said, adding that they may not fully understand the consequences of their behaviour.
'The motivation of individuals within these networks is not financial nor is it for sexual gratification – this is purely for their amusement, for fun, or to be popular online.'
Almost 60 alleged offenders had been identified in Australia alone, Ms Barrett said, and the AFP was working with other Five Eyes nations - the US, UK, New Zealand, and Canada - to target the groups.
Tech companies are also helping police develop an AI tool which will help detect emojis and slang used as code when discussing sadistic online exploitation in encrypted communications.
Ms Barrett's speech comes as Australia prepares to introduce a world-first social media ban for kids under the age of 16, aimed at minimising online harm. However, gaming and messaging platforms are exempt from the new laws, which come into effect in December.
