FBI warns of growing online threats targeting children – Spectrum News

FBI warns of growing online threats targeting children  Spectrum News

The FBI is warning parents about violent online networks targeting children through popular gaming and social media platforms. TEXAS — As a lifelong gamer, Jimmy Wu always wanted to share his love of video games with his children. “I wanted to share that with them as well and have something to bond with them through,” Wu said. His 12-year-old daughter eventually became a gamer herself. But Wu says she began communicating with people she met through online platforms, including Discord and Roblox, and those interactions took a troubling turn. “Those people she was talking to encouraged her to self-harm,” Wu said. Wu’s experience comes as the FBI warns parents about violent online networks targeting children through popular gaming and social media platforms.

Investigators say these groups use manipulation, extortion and threats to pressure children into increasingly dangerous acts, including self-harm. According to the FBI, complaints involving these types of online predator encounters have increased by 600% nationwide since the agency began tracking them approximately two years ago. Jason Hudson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston field office, says these networks operate under several names including 764, Harm Notion and The Com. The FBI says victims are typically between the ages of 10 and 17, and the exploitation can go beyond demands for sexually explicit material. “The ultimate goal