A Twisted Online ‘Game’ Is Forcing Young Girls In Australia To Hurt Themselves And Others

Last Updated:October 29, 2025, 15:48 IST

Police announced the formation of a new taskforce dedicated to dismantling the online crime networks behind the disturbing trend.

The networks recruit pre-teen and teenage girls through platforms like Roblox, Discord and Telegram. (Representational)

Australian police uncovered a sinister global network targeting young girls through online gaming and messaging platforms, coercing them into acts of self-harm and violence in what authorities describe as a “twisted type of gamification."

Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett announced the formation of a new taskforce dedicated to dismantling the online crime networks behind the disturbing trend. The initiative is being coordinated internationally, with support from Australia’s Five Eyes partners- the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.

“This is a new and disturbing front in traditional gender-based violence," Krissy Barrett said, adding, “We are seeing girls as young as ten being manipulated by people who want to hurt others and themselves- purely for amusement."

So far, three arrests have been made in Australia and nine overseas, with almost 60 alleged offenders identified domestically.

Police said that the perpetrators- often young men in their late teens or early twenties- describe themselves as “crimefluencers." Many hold extremist or nihilistic beliefs and derive entertainment from inciting harm.

Krissy Barrett said, “They subscribe to ideologies including nihilism, sadism, Nazism and satanism. They hunt, stalk and draw in victims from a range of online platforms, mimicking the social structures of multiplayer gaming."

The networks recruit pre-teen and teenage girls through platforms like Roblox, Discord and Telegram, targeting those with low self-esteem or mental health vulnerabilities. Unlike traditional grooming cases, the offenders’ motivations are not sexual or financial.

“This is purely for their amusement- for fun, or to be popular online. They may not even fully understand the consequences of what they’re doing," police said.

The police is now working with technology companies to develop an AI-based detection tool capable of identifying coded language, emojis and slang used to conceal discussions of sadistic online behaviour.

The revelations come just weeks before Australia enacts its world-first social media age ban, which will prohibit users under 16 from creating social media accounts starting in December. However, gaming and messaging platforms remain exempt.

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