What are Com networks and what threat do they pose?

Stark warnings have been issued by law enforcement chiefs about so-called Com networks, described as the “online equivalent of urban street gangs”.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) raised the groups as a key threat in its annual National Strategic Assessment, published on Tuesday.

The groups are loose online networks that share extreme graphic material and manipulate victims to allow them to commit both sexual and violent child abuse, as well as fraud.

Members are mainly teenage boys who are driven by a desire for status, sharing more and more extreme content and committing increasingly serious crimes.

The groups use various platforms including Discord and Telegram, and some gaming apps are also believed to be ways boys get drawn into the networks.

NCA director general for threats James Babbage said: “Competitive and collaborative behaviours involved in gaming may also be another way that people get drawn into competitive and collaborative behaviour in these forums, and then become desensitised to the sort of violence they’re seeing.

“In an attempt to gain kudos and notoriety they seek to outdo what they’re seeing others do.”

It is estimated that thousands of teenage boys are members of the networks, but the NCA believes their crimes are significantly under-reported.

This is partly because some of their victims have been groomed and may not be aware that a crime has taken place.

Mr Babbage said the groups are “the online equivalent of urban street gangs committing crimes to make money, cause fear and harm, and gain notoriety.”

They will sometimes deliberately target victims who have sought out information about eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, or other mental health issues.

Members become involved in a wide range of disturbing activities online, from viewing and sharing extreme violent material to coercing victims to harm themselves or commit sexual acts.

They use the same techniques to groom victims as they do to target others for fraud.

NCA director general Graeme Biggar said both investigators at the agency and in counter-terrorism policing are seeing “gamification” of threats, where young people want to progress through levels and therefore their level of offending escalates quickly.

He said the speed at which the crimes become extreme is new.

“We’ve seen a number of mass victim offenders in child sexual abuse cases before, but the level of social networking, the pursuit of notoriety within the networks, and the speed of moving to the most extreme harms is new and shocking.”