Danger on Discord: How 764 prey on and extort minors

Key digested message Group ‘764’ targets minors to extort them into creating child sexual abuse material, self-harming, and other nefarious activities. This article utilises seven posts from open-source Reddit data, to examine children’s and young peoples’ experiences of 764. The harm posed has been labelled as sadistic, involving blackmail and stalking. The comments revealed that perpetrators specifically target vulnerable minors, who are witnesses to and forced to engage in animal torture, self-harm, and child sexual abuse material, to name a few. These groups operate across servers and platforms designed for children, including Discord, Minecraft and Roblox, and social media sites such as Telegram. Research and action are vital to understand the risks posed to children on these platforms and prevent harm.