| The ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism (COE) today launched a new research and resource hub that offers a deep dive into the online communities influencing young adults and children to engage in targeted and mass violence. ADL has tracked a disturbing rise in antisemitism and hate in online communities that glorify mass shooters, extremist killers and other perpetrators of mass violence, which further contributes to the normalization and desensitization of this kind of violent content and can inspire deadly attacks. Since 2024, the ADL Center on Extremism has documented dozens of attacks tied to these communities, including school shootings whose perpetrators shared similar online footprints along their pathways to violence. These spaces include gore forums, as well as sextortion and self-harm networks like the Com and 764. A throughline for these networks is the True Crime Community (TCC) , a subculture built around a fascination with violent perpetrators and mass killers. The new resource hub includes: • Comprehensive new research products examining memetic violence (a form of targeted violence driven by a desire for status and notoriety within online communities), the Com, the True Crime Community , the popular gore forum WatchPeopleDie, and the role antisemitism plays in these spaces. • Interactive tools, including a global TCC attacks and plots map, and a memetic violence field guide that decodes the terms, symbols, and phrases used in these online communities to signal transgression and belonging. • Resources that include behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) guidance, risk factors and warning signs, information on becoming an upstander, and a curated list of reporting resources. The ADL Center on Extremism’s team of specialized analysts and experts monitor antisemitism, hate and extremism, tracking threats against the Jewish community and other groups. Since January 2025, ADL shared alerts to law enforcement about eight individuals connected to these online communities, all of whom were ultimately arrested. For more information on ADL’s work with law enforcement, visit ADL and Law Enforcement or contact us at LEResources@adl.org. |