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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Rachel Hall

Online gangs of teenage boys sharing extreme material are ‘emerging threat’ in UK

Boy sitting at a computer
The warning follows growing concerns about boys and young men in the online ‘manosphere’. Photograph: Posed by model; Nazar Abbas Photography/Getty Images

Teenage boys are joining online gangs where they share sadistic and misogynistic material that fuels crimes including fraud, violence and child sexual abuse, the director general of the National Crime Agency has warned.

Offenders in online communities collaborate and compete to cause harm online and offline through cyber-attacks such as launching malware, ransomware or executing data breaches; fraud; extremism; grooming and blackmailing; serious violence; and child sexual abuse, according to the NCA, which leads the UK’s fight to cut serious and organised crime.

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