Key points
- Parental controls failed to protect victim from harm
- Violent forums manipulated teens into self-harm behaviors
- FBI warns of nihilistic violent extremist groups
NEW YORK, United States: When Dana gave her 14-year-old son Elliott his first smartphone, she believed she had taken every precaution.
She set parental controls, limited his screen time, and banned social media. But by the time Elliott entered ninth grade, a period already marked by his parents’ separation and the loss of old friendships, his mental health spiralled.
Online, where he had initially sought out people who shared his taste in black metal music, he instead found predatory networks that would reshape his life.
Troubling changes
According to American non-profit media organisation NPR, Dana soon began to notice troubling changes in Elliott’s behaviour. He became withdrawn, spoke of death, and grew fascinated with violent, gory topics.
Unknown to her at the time, Elliott was being drawn into violent online communities such as 764 and CVLT, which law enforcement has linked to crimes including arson, child sexual abuse material, and murder.
“It was like he was taken hostage and brainwashed,” Dana told in an interview with NPR.
Hospitalisation
By early 2024, Elliott had been hospitalised after extensive self-harm. Medical staff discovered his torso and arms covered in cuts, some forming extremist symbols. Only then did Dana begin to piece together what had been happening.
Searching his phone, she found evidence of 12- to 14-hour days spent on Reddit, TikTok, Discord, and graphic “gore” sites, along with hundreds of explicit images of Elliott harming himself.
The FBI has warned of “nihilistic violent extremism,” a new term for online movements that target minors not for ideological goals but to “sow chaos and facilitate the destruction of society.”
“Detox”
Dana said Elliott needed inpatient care to “detox” from these harmful networks, but few facilities understood the depth of the problem.
Today, Elliott is in recovery, having traded his smartphone for a flip phone and returned to hobbies like making music.
Dana hopes sharing their story will alert other parents. “I get one of two reactions: ‘That could never happen to us,’ or ‘Please tell me more,’” she told NPR. “I want to talk about it, because silence helps these networks thrive.”
