Europol flags 4,340 URLs for removal in crackdown on 'The Com'

Europol flagged 4,340 URLs for elimination throughout a weeks-long operation focusing on on-line content material related to ‘The Com’, a loosely organized community of nihilistic violent extremist teams.

Investigators from 9 nations (Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Eire, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) took half in what Europol calls “Inquiry Motion Days” from June to July 2026.

This joint motion is expounded to the European Fee’s ProtectEU counter-terrorism plan, organized by Europol’s EU Web Referral Unit (EU IRU) and Spain’s Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime Info Middle (CITCO), and goals to disrupt The Com’s on-line ecosystem, restrict the nihilistic violent extremist content material unfold on-line by The Com group, and generate new investigative leads.

“The content material on Com is affected by encrypted language and emojis that adults have a tough time deciphering, and conveys sinister messages encouraging self-harm and the sexual exploitation of minors. (…) The content material referenced on this operation consists of violent movies and pictures depicting self-harm, suicide, little one sexual abuse (CSAM), animal abuse, and violent assaults,” Europol stated. ”

“Different forms of content material embody movies of violent avenue assaults, acts referred to as ‘manhunts,’ or arson. As well as, The.com produces manuals and guides that cowl subjects comparable to grooming, homicide, improvised explosive units, and ideological viewpoints. These manuals are created by teams that instruct their members how you can perform violent assaults, grooming and extortion of susceptible minors, or poisoning and swatting.”

It builds on Venture Compass, a year-long operation launched in January 2025 and led by Europol’s European Counter-Terrorism Middle that brings collectively legislation enforcement companies from 28 nations.

As BleepingComputer beforehand reported in February, this in depth effort resulted in 30 arrests and the identification of 179 suspects and 62 victims related to The Com.

In January 2025, Europol additionally revealed a notification relating to the rise of on-line cult communities, significantly focusing on younger individuals.

What’s The.com?

Europol describes The Com (quick for Neighborhood) as a decentralized community missing a unified ideology, with some factions pursuing violent right-wing extremist and accelerationist beliefs.

Com-affiliated teams recruit and groom victims by means of social media, messaging apps, and gaming platforms, forcing them to provide self-harm, violence, and little one sexual abuse materials, typically by means of extortion.

“They distribute propaganda on accessible platforms to draw younger individuals, gathering potential members and victims into personal boards and chat rooms, the place radicalization and victimization happen. Victims are normally compelled to stay below the affect of their perpetrators by means of blackmail,” Europol added on Friday.

Based on Europol’s February announcement, The Com is organized into a number of subgroups, together with:

Offline coms that injury property, hurt others, or promote acts of terrorism;
Cybercom, which coordinates community intrusions and ransomware assaults;
(S)Extortion.com forces minors to commit sexual crimes and encourages self-harm and suicide.
764 is one other subgroup that emerged in 2021 and is especially infamous for encouraging younger individuals to create specific content material that’s later used for blackmail or shared amongst members.

The 2 alleged leaders of 764, 20-year-old Prasan Nepal and 21-year-old Leonidas Varagiannis, have been arrested in April 2025 and are presently going through life in jail for operating a world little one exploitation ring.

The corporate has beforehand been linked to a Las Vegas on line casino incursion in September 2023 and high-profile ransomware assaults on Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods in April 2025.