Federal Justice Department officials delivered stark warnings about the extremist online network known as
764, describing a sprawling digital ecosystem where young followers use mainstream social platforms to groom, coerce, and terrorize vulnerable teens. Prosecutors emphasized that the group’s tactics are darker and more sadistic than anything typically seen in juvenile online behavior, with members deliberately seeking out minors already struggling with mental health challenges. According to officials, the network’s influence has grown so severe that it now represents one of the most disturbing threats facing youth online.
Investigators say 764 members systematically target underage victims, manipulating them into sharing private information or intimate images and then weaponizing that material through blackmail. Victims are coerced into self‑harm, violence against others, or other degrading acts, often while being recorded so the content can be shared within the group. Authorities describe this as a form of “content‑driven cruelty,” where members gain status by producing increasingly extreme material. Reports to child‑protection organizations have surged, reflecting a rapid expansion of the network’s reach.
Recent criminal cases illustrate the brutality behind 764’s operations. In one instance, a teenage girl was forced to carve initials into her own skin and send the footage to her abusers. In another, a young man seeking entry into the network allegedly killed his own pet on camera to “earn” access. Federal documents detail additional cases in which minors were pressured into setting themselves on fire or performing other horrific acts while being watched and encouraged by 764 members. These incidents reveal a pattern of calculated psychological manipulation designed to break victims down and turn their suffering into entertainment.
Officials warn that 764 has evolved beyond a single group into a broader ideology that glorifies domination, fear, and societal collapse. With hundreds of suspected members under investigation and victims as young as nine, prosecutors say current laws often struggle to keep pace with the network’s methods—especially when both perpetrators and victims are minors. Despite these challenges, federal agencies are intensifying their efforts, describing 764 as a uniquely dangerous online phenomenon whose cruelty, reach, and intent demand urgent attention.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/rare-public-comments-career-doj-officials-offer-chilling/story?id=128526657
