JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The FBI is investigating at least 250 people who may be tied to online networks that target children. These networks encourage kids to hurt themselves, other minors, even animals. In some countries, they've been tied to mass casualty and terrorism plots. NPR domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef has spoken with a family that experienced this firsthand. And a warning to listeners - this story contains discussion of self-harm.
ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: Before her son entered 9th grade, Dana says he managed his time online pretty well.
DANA: Well, he plays music, he plays drums, he plays guitar, he sings, he draws, he writes, he reads. Like, he had enough things to keep him busy otherwise, so it had never really been a source of conflict until fall of 2023.
YOUSEF: NPR is not using Dana's full name because her son is a minor. The fall of 2023 was a bumpy time. He was being bullied at school, his longtime core friend group had broken apart and his parents were separating. There was a lot of change. And so at the beginning of the school year, Dana noticed he was retreating into his phone.
DANA: He had an iPhone, so I had Apple parental controls set up.
YOUSEF: Dana set up screen time locks for some websites. She limited his time online. He wasn't allowed on social media. But then she'd find out he'd figured out some way around everything. His personality was also changing. Dana said he was isolating himself. He stopped doing things he used to enjoy. And over a few months, she became aware that he was self-harming. At first, it was just small cuts on his arms. Sometimes he'd come to her afterward, asking for help. He said he felt like he was losing control.
DANA: We were given a safety plan to lock up items in the home that he could use to harm himself, but it seemed like somehow, he kept finding other items to harm himself.
YOUSEF: Before all this even began, Dana's son had already been seeing a therapist. He's neurodivergent, and she says therapy helped equip him to navigate a neurotypical world. Dana brought up the self-harm and the behavioral changes at his appointments. She says they were told that it was normal teenage stuff - even that he should spend more time online because it's where he seemed to be finding community. But Dana was starting to worry that actually he was being radicalized online. He had started dropping what she calls extreme political comments into conversations, including neofascist talking points.
DANA: You know, the whole entire government just needs to fall into complete anarchy and be rebuilt from scratch.
YOUSEF: Dana was looking for help. She contacted a group that guides people out of extremist movements. She was also trying to find a new therapist for her son. But before those resources came together, things came to a head.
DANA: My younger daughter had found that my son was in possession of a large hunting knife.
YOUSEF: It was something he had specially ordered on Etsy.
DANA: It was very long and had been customized with the inscription, death. It had a gut hook. Like, it was a very intricate weapon.
YOUSEF: And Dana was being presented with this knife five minutes before she had to get her son from school. Questions were running through her head.
DANA: Does he have another weapon on him at school right now? Does he have a weapon at home? Like, I - is he going to hurt somebody, or somebody else, or himself?
YOUSEF: Just then, Dana got a call. It was the pediatrician's office, finally getting back to her about a new therapist. She told them about the knife. They told her to pick him up, but to make sure a school resource officer and local police were on scene in case he was additionally armed. And they said she should take him immediately to the children's hospital. Dana said the ride there was traumatic. He was angry and crying. He said she was making a big deal of nothing. But at the hospital, Dana finally started to understand how serious his situation had become.
DANA: He had extensive self-harm all over his torso - like, covering his torso, most of his arms. Satanic symbols that were deep enough to leave permanent scars. I later found out that some of these symbols may possibly have been callout signs to 764.
YOUSEF: 764 is one of the predatory networks that targets vulnerable people online, including children. In the U.S., nearly a dozen 764-affiliated people have been arrested since 2021. It's been tied to attacks, arson, child sexual abuse material, child sexploitation, bomb threats, plots to murder and at least two deaths. Police told Dana that if someone from the network had been in direct contact with her son, that would represent a grave risk to himself and possibly even to his family.
DANA: So I spent approximately two hours going through his phone. And I still have nightmares about it.
YOUSEF: Dana found that there had been direct contact very recently with someone, but that person's identity remains unknown. What really disturbed her were images she saw from gore websites - sites that feature graphic, violent videos that desensitize viewers. There was also other upsetting content on the phone.
DANA: My son had taken hundreds of pictures that were categorized as child self-harm sexual content. So they started with, here's just a little scratch on my arm. Here's a bigger scratch. Here's some all over my arm. And at the end, it was cuts all over his torso, thighs, arms. And he was fully naked.
YOUSEF: It took months of intensive treatment to extricate him from these toxic online environments. Dana found a partial hospitalization program where he'd spend six to seven hours a day in therapy. He'd sleep at home but under new strict rules. Bedroom door open at all times. She took down the blinds - no cords - basically emptied it out and left the bed, two shirts, two pairs of pants.
His progress wasn't constant. There were setbacks. But a key part of his recovery has been losing his smartphone. He's got a flip phone now, and Dana says he's happier. Dana's convinced he got help at just the right time. Through all this, he was still being bullied at school, and he was angry at the people doing that to him.
DANA: I worry that if he would have kept viewing this content, the police officer was very emphatic that we were probably days away from a very horrible outcome - either, you know, him harming somebody else or himself.
YOUSEF: News articles, law enforcement advisories and conversations with extremism researchers suggest that what Dana's son experienced is not unique. In fact, many say the harmful reach of nihilistic networks like 764 is growing much faster than law enforcement can contain it. Tomorrow, we look at the nexus of these activities with terrorism and the calls for a public health approach to counter them. Odette Yousef, NPR News.
SUMMERS: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
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