Network 764, the dark online ecosystem that extorts minors to commit violence

The FBI considers it a top-priority terrorist threat. Europol monitors it due to its transnational nature and extreme danger. It is called 764 and is a nihilistic violent extremism network that uses the internet to recruit and sexually exploit minors, subject them to extortion, and, in some cases, induce them to self-harm or participate in acts of violence.

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Last month, a 17-year-old was arrested in Getxo for being the “main reference” in Spain. He is accused of making false terrorist threats against educational centers, public and private organizations, and several personalities between January and April 2026. In these threats, he also threatened to broadcast live the supposed murders he intended to commit so that other network members could witness them.

His arrest has once again focused attention on this network, created by another teenager, who took its name from the first three digits of the postal code of Stephenville (Texas), the hometown of its founder, Bradley Cadenhead. Although he was convicted in 2023 for crimes related to child sexual abuse material, 764 did not disappear. After his arrest, the phenomenon evolved into a decentralized network of online groups and communities present in several countries.

“764 is the visible expression of a deeper transformation: communities that generate and reproduce violence without an ideology to organize it,” says Eleonora Esposito, a researcher at the University of Navarra and expert in digital gender-based violence. The phenomenon breaks, she assures, with the classic model, as violence ceases to be a means and becomes an end and a currency of status; minors can simultaneously occupy the roles of victims and perpetrators; and radicalization can occur within peer communities, without the need for an organization.

“Although a reference has been arrested, it has not been dismantled, because it has neither a headquarters nor an organizational chart. It works as if it were a ‘franchised brand’ that shares a code of conduct and a reputation economy,” clarifies Selva Orejón, a judicial expert and CEO of Onbranding. In that system, she explains, it is not a matter of money, it is pure and hard status. “Recognition is obtained by demonstrating that one has managed to instigate others to cause harm and, above all, document it. They have managed to gamify suffering,” she summarizes.

Recruitment begins with an apparent friendship, a common interest, or even a romantic bond. Through social networks, messaging platforms, video games, and online communities, the perpetrators seek to gain the trust of minors to obtain personal information or intimate images. They then use that material to blackmail them and progressively increase demands, ranging from new images to self-harm, animal abuse, or acts of violence against third parties.

Orejón calls it tactical empathy in which, later, they lead them to private adult channels where they use tactics of isolation, victimization, and radicalization. It is very common for victims to end up being manipulated to extort others, creating an infinite self-feeding chain.

Silvia Semenzin, a researcher at AI Forensics, points to Telegram as one of the reference platforms for these communities. “Participants feel protected. They not only share violent content but also incite violence and even broadcast it without the platform doing anything,” she denounces. The expert recalls the private group of more than seventy thousand users worldwide where intimate images of women or advice on drugging and assaulting them were shared.

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In fact, the only times Telegram collaborates with authorities, she assures, are limited to the most serious cases, such as terrorism or child sexual abuse material. Apple removed the Telegram app from its App Store for a few hours on August 4 after a group distributing images of minors became known. “Telegram acted immediately. It deleted the group and the content. This case tells us that if they really want to act, they can.”

The extortion methodology often complicates the authorities’ response. Members of 764 usually prefer to extort others to carry out violent practices. This degree of separation usually involves complex management of encrypted communication networks and chat rooms that are frequently deleted, spanning multiple jurisdictions, to often investigate minor crimes, according to the report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which investigates extremism and disinformation on the internet.

International cooperation to eliminate these ecosystems is key. That is why Europol and the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) coordinated, between late June and early July 2026, a joint operation with nine European countries. Authorities identified 4,340 links related to this type of content. Meanwhile, Europol has the Compass project to combat the ecosystem of The Com, a decentralized set of online communities, within which 764 is situated, linked to nihilism, neo-Nazism, and Satanism.

Although 764 mainly operates on the internet, tracking it requires combining different investigative techniques. Judicial expert Selva Orejón recommends preserving evidence: “Sometimes families see the content, get scared, and delete it. But it is important to preserve the evidence and, if possible, certify it to maintain the chain of custody.”

In this regard, Natalia Díaz, a communicator specialized in children’s rights, explains the profiles these networks seek. “They look for minors with self-esteem problems, who suffer bullying, or who feel lonely. Recruitment usually starts by offering them attention, recognition, or a sense of belonging to a group. Then comes psychological manipulation, isolation, sextortion, or threats to maintain control.”

That is why families must be alert to warning signs such as sudden behavioral changes, a lot of secrecy with the phone, nighttime connections, abandonment of friendships and hobbies, decline in school performance, mood changes, etc. And remember: “Prevention is not just about controlling the phone, but about minors having a trusted adult they can turn to if someone manipulates, threatens, or makes them feel uncomfortable.”

If relatives detect that minors have fallen into a violent community, “do not blame them and support them.” That completely breaks the blackmail, because the perpetrators usually threaten them that they will have problems if they tell their parents or the police. “Do not confront or negotiate with them: no paying, no deleting content. The recommendation is to stop interacting with the perpetrators and inform the authorities. Also, this situation should be addressed with psychological support,” details Selva Orejón. 

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