The Com

The Com (or "Comm," short for "The Community") is a loosely connected, transnational network of online actors involved in a wide range of illicit and harmful activities, including sadistic online exploitation (SOE), swatting, vandalism, arson, ransomware attacks, and the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).  

The network is composed mostly of minors and young adults and operates across popular social media and messaging platforms, including Discord, TikTok, Roblox, and Telegram, among others. The most well-known and influential subgroup within the Com is 764, which has inspired numerous copycat groups and offshoots in recent years.

The Com's activity can be divided into four primary spheres, though participation is fluid and individuals often move between different areas or join multiple groups at once, with some victims also becoming perpetrators.

• Extortion Com focuses primarily on SOE, sextortion, the creation and distribution of CSAM, and coerced acts of self-harm or suicide.
• Anti-Extortion Com claims to oppose extortion and pedophilia but frequently engages in similar harmful behaviors.
• Offline Com seeks to promote and carry out acts of offline violence, including arson, vandalism, stabbings, and other physical attacks.
• Cyber Com specializes in hacking, swatting, ransomware attacks, and other forms of cybercrime.  

Unlike other extremist groups and movements, Com actors generally lack specific political, social, or religious goals. Instead, they are primarily driven by a desire to gain clout and legitimacy online. The Com operates on a social hierarchy in which a participant acquires respect, status, and credibility among their peers through increasingly cruel and chaotic actions. This premium on violence and harm creates a hypercompetitive environment where groups and individual actors constantly attempt to outdo one another with increasingly extreme acts.

Com actors do not have a coherent ideology, though they tend to cultivate an aesthetic marked by misanthropy (the distrust or hatred of humanity), nihilism (the belief that all life is meaningless and without purpose), and a deep disdain for life and social norms. This distinctive aesthetic can be observed throughout Com culture in their memes, promotional videos, conversations, usernames, and bios, which frequently feature disturbing themes of blood, gore, destruction, terror, sadism, and cruelty, particularly towards children.

While some Com actors embrace neo-Nazism and accelerationism, they tend to do so superficially, invoking extremist symbols and ideology to appear more extreme and dangerous to their peers, which elevates their social standing within the network.

Com actors have been arrested globally for various crimes, including possession of child sexual abuse material, murder, arson, manufacturing and using explosive devices, and animal abuse, among other serious offenses.