COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – The FBI office in Columbia is warning parents across the state about a rise in cases involving online networks that victimize children and teens.
Between 2025 and 2026, the FBI’s South Carolina field office has seen a 380% increase in cases involving violent online networks or nihilistic violent extremist groups. Investigators say members of these groups target children and teens online to influence them to carry out acts of violence.
“These groups are using online — whether it be chat rooms, gaming platforms, any manner of online communication to connect with our children and indoctrinate them,” said Special Agent in Charge Anish Shukla. “And eventually, coerce them to do things that are inherently dangerous; they result in things like self-harm… harm to others; we see a lot of animal cruelty.”
The groups operate through chat rooms and mainstream gaming platforms to find children to target by establishing friendships with them.
Shukla explained that predators will ask their targets to record themselves committing violent acts, and often use those recordings to extort the victims and force them to do additional acts of violence.
The goal of the many online groups is to cause chaos, Shukla said.
“Most often, they’re abiding by some sort of radical ideology, and typically … the bringing down of society and the calm that we exist in today, causing chaos, is goal number one,” he said.
Signs of victimization include changes in appearance and behavior, changes in eating and sleeping habits, injuries, signs of animal cruelty, unexplained harm to younger siblings, openly talking about death, reports of personally identifying information being posted online, or unexpected texts or phone calls about the child from unknown numbers.
In the past year, every investigation into a violent online network in South Carolina involved minor victims, Shukla said. And in 75% of those cases, the perpetrators were also minors.
Shukla said one key factor puts kids at risk.
“Unrestricted, unsupervised access to the Internet by children,” he said. “Parents absolutely must be involved in their children’s online activities, having a sense of what they’re doing, who they’re talking to, what apps or games they’re playing.”
The FBI became aware of violent online networks in 2021, and saw a major uptick in activity beginning in 2022.
Shukla pointed out that as children are allowed access to technology at younger ages, predators gain additional access.
“In a connected world, in the cyberspace, it’s very easy for the perpetrators of these crimes to reach and connect with our children and victimize them,” he said.
The FBI encourages parents to make it clear their children are safe to report online threats to them.
Parents worried their children are actively involved in these networks can contact authorities for intervention, Shukla said.
“The number of times where the FBI has been out interviewing a subject or a victim, where we have heard the parents say, ‘We knew something was wrong, but we didn’t know what to do,’” he said. “Call us. Call the FBI, call the FBI Columbia field office today. We have a team ready to help.”
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