Com-Networks: How Sadist Scenes Incite Minors to Violence
Extremism researcher Felix Neumann explains how the Com scene manipulates young people and why it is now under suspicion of right-wing terrorism.
Researcher warns: Com-networks recruit minors through extortion and violence incentives
The so-called Com scene – a growing network of sadists on the internet – is increasingly suspected, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, of adopting right-wing terrorist characteristics. Extremism researcher Felix Neumann explains in an interview how the scene functions, why it is barely within the grasp of security authorities and what role right-wing extremist ideology plays in this.
What is the Com scene?
"Com" stands for "Community". Members incite each other to acts of violence in groups, try to outdo one another and thereby develop an internal hierarchy with its own competitive dynamic. The scene emerged around 2015. Communication and exchange take place predominantly online – the criminal and violent acts themselves then occur in the analogue world.
Compared to other forms of extremism, one thing stands out: an overarching ideology does not take centre stage. Instead, people come together there who regard the world as no longer worth living in, reject human rights and discard civil forms of conduct.
Two mechanisms of recruitment
Neumann describes two fundamental mechanisms through which the scene gains and binds members. The first concerns initiation rituals: whoever wants to join a group must prove themselves "worthy" through acts such as arson attacks, graffiti or property damage.
The second mechanism is the targeted abuse of minors. Perpetrators seek contact with young people – particularly girls – via social media and gaming platforms. They initially shower them with attention and ostensible affection. Those who experience this for the first time at the age of twelve or thirteen are easily overwhelmed, according to Neumann. Through manipulative behaviour, boundaries are crossed, often when exchanging intimate images. Once the perpetrator possesses such images, they threaten: either comply with the demand – or the images will be forwarded to family, friends and schoolmates.
Why investigators barely get anywhere
Pursuing the Com scene is difficult for several reasons. Anyone familiar with the digital sphere does not operate under their real name, obscures their identity and avoids photographs of themselves – this is the first investigative obstacle. On top of this, victims – much like in cases of sexual abuse – often have a threshold that prevents them from coming forward.
Another structural problem: national borders disappear. The perpetrator sits in Germany, the victim in Finland or the USA, the next victim in Brazil. In order to create an overall picture at all, security authorities from several countries must cooperate on both the perpetrator and victim side – something Neumann describes as "exceptionally difficult".
For research too there is a hard boundary: since many groups share images and videos related to child abuse, the infiltration of researchers is not possible for legal and psychological reasons. Instead, publicly accessible materials are analysed: manifestos from perpetrators, propaganda material and court records.
Right-wing extremist codes as a binding element
Right-wing extremist narratives, symbols and codes are widespread in the scene – according to Neumann, a clear line of demarcation can barely be drawn. In the genesis of the scene, the British-Satanist group "Order of the Nine Angles" played a central role.
Elements of jihadism also appear: flags of the so-called Islamic State and corresponding propaganda videos are shared. Right-wing extremist content is however clearly predominant. Among some perpetrators arrested in the United States, they actually believe in right-wing extremist narratives; among many other members, corresponding content is shared primarily because of its group-binding effect – not out of genuine conviction.
This is compounded by deliberate desensitisation: newly recruited members are continually confronted with brutal videos – for example the Christchurch attack or beheading videos from "IS". This is in the interest of the leading figures, Neumann explains, because it prepares new members to eventually commit acts of violence themselves or incite others to self-harm.
Enemy images and victim selection
Within the nihilistic scene, partly structured enemy images emerge – particularly towards members of the LGBTQ+ community. Some perpetrators select victims deliberately according to sexual orientation, skin colour or gender. However, this is not consistent: victims are selected for the most diverse reasons, even if they are, for example, white, blonde and blue-eyed.
Terrorist wing: "Militant accelerationism"
A smaller part of the scene understands itself as "militant accelerationism" – a decidedly terrorist movement with the goal of driving society to the brink of collapse, creating chaos and channelling this into a civil war or "race war". Such efforts exist both within the Com network and among separate groupings that emerged primarily in Eastern Europe but operate internationally.
Further back in time, there was also a German offshoot of the "Atomwaffen Division", a right-wing terrorist group from the United States, with the same goal. What is being alleged against a current defendant is therefore a known pattern in the scene, according to Neumann. How concrete the plans were in the individual case and whether he would have acted alone or with support remained open at the time of the report.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung