Europol reports 4,340 online addresses linked to an extremist network that recruits and exploits minors
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Authorities from several European countries have participated in an action against the online ecosystem "The Com", a decentralized network associated with the radicalization of minors, sexual extortion, self-harm, and violence. The identified content has been forwarded to platforms for assessment and removal, and the information obtained will be used for further investigations.
Europol and authorities from several countries have sent approximately 4,340 addresses associated with violent extremist content distributed by "The Com", an international decentralized network that recruits and exploits minors through social media, messaging applications, and gaming platforms.
In short
1. The action took place over several weeks in June and July 2026 and involved authorities from Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
2. Approximately 4,340 online addresses were sent to platforms for content analysis and the application of their own rules or relevant legal obligations.
3. "The Com" is an informal network of groups that do not have a leadership or a unique ideology, but in which violence, exploitation, and notoriety gained through extreme content play a central role.
4. The groups seek minors on easily accessible platforms and direct them to private spaces, where they can be subjected to radicalization, sexual extortion, coercion, and encouraged towards self-harm or violence.
5. Europol believes that the network has evolved in the last two years into a global threat, with minors being identified both as victims and as individuals drawn into committing crimes.
The operation was coordinated by the EU Online Content Reporting Unit within Europol and the Spanish Center for Information Against Terrorism and Organized Crime. The participating authorities aimed to reduce the circulation of materials produced by groups associated with "The Com", identify new investigative leads, and improve the response of the platforms.
The approximately 4,340 identified addresses do not automatically represent 4,340 accounts, individuals, or materials removed. They were forwarded to online service providers for assessment, so that the platforms can determine whether the materials violate applicable legislation or their own terms of use.
Europol centralized the information provided by national authorities and checked the list to avoid overlaps. The agency also forwarded materials considered incompatible with European norms regarding the fight against terrorism, racism, and xenophobia and supported other organizations in the reporting process.
"The Com", an abbreviation derived from "Community", is not presented as an organization with a hierarchical structure, identified leadership, or common ideological program. Europol describes it as an ecosystem made up of marginal groups that promote a misanthropic and nihilistic perspective, in which violence can become an end in itself.
Some components of the network have adopted ideas associated with right-wing violent extremism and accelerationism. These groups seek to destabilize society through violent attacks, corrupt minors, and amplify disorder, but the use of extremist symbols can also serve to shock or intimidate the public.
Recruitment begins on publicly accessible platforms, including social networks, messaging applications, and online games. Potential members and victims are then directed to forums or private conversations, where contact becomes harder to observe by family, authorities, and platforms.
Europol shows that the groups specifically target vulnerable youth and can coerce them into producing abusive materials, self-harming, torturing animals, or participating in violent acts. Victims can be kept under control through threats of publishing intimate or compromising images, a practice known as sexual extortion.
The content distributed in spaces associated with the network includes images and recordings of self-harm, suicide, sexual abuse of children, animal cruelty, and violent attacks. Some acts are streamed live, and other participants encourage them before the materials are saved and redistributed.
The status within some groups is linked to a user's ability to produce, obtain through coercion, or distribute increasingly extreme materials. Europol describes a system in which online notoriety can reward the escalation of abuses and violence.
Some groups impose potential members with entry tests through which they must demonstrate that they have executed the instructions received. These practices may involve self-harm and sending images that contain the online name of the person exercising control or the name of the group.
The network also distributes materials that present methods for manipulating victims, committing attacks, building improvised explosive devices, exposing personal data, and using false calls to emergency services. These documents are intended to prepare members for violent actions, intimidation, and the exploitation of minors.
The exposure of personal data, known as doxing, can include publishing a victim's address or other private information to threaten and harass them. The data can also be used for false calls in which authorities are informed that a violent crime is occurring or is about to occur at the victim's address.
Such a report can lead to a police force intervention at the home of a person who has committed no offense. Europol warns that this method can endanger the victim and their family and can produce serious physical and psychological consequences.
The accessibility of materials is one of the main concerns of authorities. Young users can access extremist content even if they do not intentionally seek it out, as the recommendation systems of platforms may present them with materials similar to those they have previously viewed.
The initial materials may seem harmless or may use humor, games, stylized images, and the language of youth communities. The content can quickly become more violent and traumatic, and the messages are masked by coded expressions and emojis that are difficult for parents and other adults to interpret.
Europol has not announced any arrests or charges against individuals in this action. The objectives were to identify and report content, disrupt the circulation of propaganda, increase the level of awareness of platforms, and obtain leads that can be used in national or international investigations.
This action complements Project COMPASS, coordinated by the European Counter-Terrorism Center within Europol. The project brings together authorities from member states and partners outside the EU for information exchange and coordination of investigations related to "The Com".
The European Counter-Terrorism Center has received hundreds of requests from member states and partners regarding crimes associated with this environment in the last two years. Europol states that the evolution of the network indicates its transformation into a global threat, with ramifications that exceed the borders of a single country.
Minors may appear in investigations both as victims of exploitation and coercion, as well as as radicalized individuals involved in producing or distributing content. This overlap complicates the response of authorities, which must investigate crimes and, at the same time, identify situations in which a participant has been previously manipulated or victimized.
The action involved Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Europol did not specify how many addresses were reported by each country, which platforms received the most reports, or how many materials had been removed at the time of the announcement.
Nihilistic violent extremism is included in Europol's assessment of the situation and trends of terrorism in the EU for 2026. The agency describes it as a destabilizing ideology, within which some groups and individuals explicitly seek to undermine the structures of society.
The operation is linked to the European agenda for combating terrorism ProtectEU, which includes protecting the population in the online environment, improving cooperation between authorities and platforms, and monitoring the use of gaming services by extremist groups.
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