Memetic Violence

Key Points 

• Memetic violence is a digitally driven phenomenon in which individuals commit physical harm primarily to gain fame and status within online communities, rather than to advance a specific political, religious, or ideological cause. 
• Central to this phenomenon is a copycat dynamic, where perpetrators imitate earlier attackers and hope to inspire future ones, creating escalating cycles of violence. 
• Online ecosystems like the Com, 764, the True Crime Community, as well as gore-focused forums like WatchPeopleDie draw in vulnerable people, engage with and assimilate them, and actively motivate them to commit violent acts, promising remembrance and reverence.
• Perpetrators' motivations often blend a desire for ongoing or posthumous fame with personal, sadistic gratification, and may incorporate extremist rhetoric and imagery whose sincerity varies widely by individual.

Introduction

Memetic violence is a digitally driven phenomenon in which individuals commit physical violence and harm primarily to gain attention, fame, and status within online communities. Unlike terrorism or extremism rooted in political, religious, or ideological goals, memetic violence treats acts of harm as viral content, made to be shared, remixed, and emulated. Footage, manifestos, and online footprints of perpetrators become material that online audiences can reference, circulate, and celebrate. Central to this phenomenon is a copycat dynamic where individuals imitate earlier perpetrators and hope to influence others to act and create escalating cycles of violence.

While the drivers of memetic violence can overlap with extremist ideologies or subcultures, the motivations and tactics often differ. Perpetrators commonly behave more like aspiring influencers than traditional terrorists, seeking recognition (whether ongoing or posthumous) through violent acts that will be documented, shared, and celebrated by online audiences. The performative nature of these acts is essential: the violence would hold little value to the perpetrator without an audience to witness, validate, and amplify their actions.

Law enforcement and some observers use the term "nihilistic violent extremism," or NVE, for this behavior. The ADL Center on Extremism uses “memetic violence” to fully capture the scope of this phenomenon because it emphasizes the notoriety-seeking, imitation, and online status dynamics within these digital spaces. These actors are not nihilists in the philosophical sense. Though some may express nihilistic or misanthropic views and adopt such aesthetics online — including accelerationist fantasies about destroying society or watching civilization collapse — such expressions are often more performative or personal than genuine belief. Many actors are frustrated by their own perceived failures and express that anger through cruelty, shocking behavior, and deliberate disregard for others and societal norms.

The Online Ecosystems Enabling Memetic Violence

While copycat violence seeking notoriety is not entirely new (various individuals in the past have attempted to emulate notorious attackers like the Columbine shooters and Elliot Rodger, an incel mass killer who killed six people in 2014), what distinguishes this phenomenon is the presence of multiple online ecosystems that actively encourage and support this behavior.

These social environments draw in vulnerable people, engage with and assimilate them, and actively motivate them to commit violent acts, promising remembrance and reverence. These spaces have transformed sporadic incidents into a sustained, interconnected phenomenon with far greater reach and devastating consequences.

Memetic violence thrives across various digital ecosystems and subcultures, each differing in their goals, aims, and the nature of violence they promote. Key networks and communities include:

• The Com and 764: Loosely connected online networks that glorify violence and focus on sextortion, harassment, and encouragement of self-harm and violence, particularly targeting children. Members gain notoriety and status by documenting the harms they manipulate others into committing or that they inflict directly. 
• The True Crime Community (TCC): An internet subculture centered on violent criminals and mass killers. While some engage with true crime out of general interest, this subculture’s more extreme segments glorify, venerate, and sometimes emulate these perpetrators. TCC members create “fan art” and write tributes about violent actors, providing a built-in audience for would-be perpetrators seeking ongoing or posthumous fame and recognition.
• Gore-focused communities: Online forums and sites like WatchPeopleDie, which are dedicated to sharing graphic violent content, including images of murders, accidents, suicides, and terrorist attacks. These spaces normalize violence and are often rife with extremist content.
• Online trolling networks (UTube Troll Police, Kiwi Farms, and others): Networks that engage in coordinated harassment, doxxing, swatting, and other forms of online and offline harm.

What Motivates Perpetrators of Memetic Violence?

The nature of memetic violence and the motivations behind it can differ substantially across networks. Some focus on inciting violence against others, while others encourage self-harm or suicide.

Actors within these communities engage in a range of harmful activities, including mass attacks, arson, stabbings, swatting attacks, distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and sextortion, among other crimes. These acts are often documented or livestreamed to share with others, alongside manifestos in some cases.

Motivations are often layered and complex. Some seek ongoing recognition and fame within online networks, while others pursue posthumous notoriety. These individuals, who often struggle with suicidal ideation and other mental health issues, sometimes seek to end their lives in a "blaze of glory," hoping to be remembered by someone, even if only through infamy. For people who have felt invisible and uncared for in their own lives, posthumous fame and attention can become a powerful motivator.

Some perpetrators derive personal, sadistic gratification from the infliction of harm and suffering. For these individuals, violence serves a dual purpose: it satisfies their own cruel impulses while also earning them status within digital communities that reward their cruelty and validate it. The 2024 Apalachee High School shooter reportedly asked his mother to search for his name online and bring him “fan art” created by TCC members. During a later recorded jail call, his mother told him that TCC adherents had indeed included him in fan art featuring various famous mass attackers. His response was to take pride, telling her, “I’m in the big leagues, bro. And not in a bad way.”

Within some communities, the boundaries between perpetrator and victim often blur. In networks such as the Com and 764, young people may be groomed, coerced, and manipulated into hurting themselves or others, creating cycles of violence that can be difficult to break.

The Dynamics of Notoriety and Fame

Memetic violence is often explicitly referential. Perpetrators view themselves as continuing a legacy established by previous attackers while aiming to influence future ones. For example, a review by COE of apparent manifestos associated with the 2026 San Diego mosque shooters found references to the Christchurch mosque shooter and calls intended to motivate others to commit violence. Other documented cases show similar referential patterns.

These networks reward people with social status and notoriety relative to the severity and scale of their acts. Many measure their violent actions against those of previous perpetrators. The more cruel, chaotic, deadly, or spectacular the actions, the greater the perceived "legacy."

Online social dynamics reinforce this incentive structure. Group chats and comment sections often shame attackers with low casualty counts and users who share mild content, while praising high body counts and transgressive material. Some actors compete for status and fame, while others reinforce each other’s violent ideations and goals, actively encouraging actions that will cement their legacy and social standing.

This hierarchy pushes individuals to escalate and to leave behind digital breadcrumbs like manifestos and recordings for others to analyze and celebrate following an attack. The more people killed, schools swatted, or children victimized, the more recognition a perpetrator receives, and the more likely their act is to inspire the next copycat.

The Role of Extremist Ideology

Accelerationist and apocalyptic rhetoric appears consistently across these communities, though its sincerity varies. Many actors express desires to watch the world burn, destroy society, or eliminate humankind entirely. The 2025 Antioch High School shooter began his manifesto with the message, "The west has fallen, billions must die ... accelerate, accelerate, accelerate." This rhetoric serves multiple purposes: it maximizes shock value, signals extremity and commitment, and positions individual acts of violence as part of a larger goal of total destruction. Whether sincere or performative, this framing lends greater weight to individual attacks and positions perpetrators as agents of systemic destruction rather than lone actors.

While some perpetrators incorporate accelerationist, white supremacist, antisemitic, incel, or other extremist imagery and rhetoric into their content, the relationship between these individuals and extremist ideologies exists on a spectrum. For some, extremist symbols and rhetoric function primarily as tools to appear more dangerous and transgressive. They may adopt particular symbols or clothing to signal they’re following in the footsteps of previous attackers and wish to be regarded like them.

Others exhibit substantive engagement with extremist beliefs. This can be reflected in their choice of targets, the content of their pre-attack writings in personal diaries or manifestos, and weapon inscriptions.

Memetic violence and extremist beliefs are not mutually exclusive. The degree to which extremist ideology motivates versus merely accompanies these acts varies widely among perpetrators. Caution should be exercised in making assumptions about any individual actor's motivations and ideological beliefs.