{"id":"1793304157972-viral-segment","slug":"fbi-cracks-down-on-child-exploitation-network","title":"FBI cracks down on child exploitation network","summary":"The FBI has been conducting a nationwide crackdown on \"764\" and similar violent online networks that target children and vulnerable people. The agency reports more than 350 active investigations across all 56 field offices, with the FBI describing the network as \"modern-day terrorism.\" Members groom minors online — often girls aged 10 to 17 — then coerce them into producing child sexual abuse material, harming pets, self-harm, and attempting suicide via sadistic online exploitation, doxing, and swatting.\n\nThe FBI says the networks are motivated by \"Nihilistic Violent Extremism\" — a desire to sow chaos and destroy society — though some participants are driven by sexual gratification or social status. The \"764\" group began with a teenager in Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since spawned offshoot networks. Investigators faced challenges identifying applicable laws, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says it is on track to receive nearly 2,000 abuse reports tied to 764 or similar networks this year.\n\nThe FBI has been publicly warning about a sharp increase in activity by \"764\" and similar violent online networks that target minors and vulnerable people, coercing them into sexual exploitation, self-harm, and suicide; the agency says it has over 350 active investigations nationwide. This is a joke/observation about \"Hunter's Moon\" trending as a meme; no factual assertion to check. POST 2114545296827125986: NOCLAIM This is commentary about meme culture and crypto-style slang (\"drained,\" \"goontek\"), not a verifiable factual claim. POST 2114364483623961035: NOCLAIM An opinion that Instagram sets meme trends; no factual claim. POST 2115456429477749220: NOCLAIM A prediction that something will go viral; no factual claim. POST bsky:at://did:plc:x4qyokjtdzgl7gmqhsw4ajqj/app.bsky.feed.post/3myzo","publishedAt":"2026-10-29T20:02:37.972Z","channel":{"id":"viral","name":"Oncast Viral","language":"en"},"show":"Group Chat","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: The FBI has been publicly warning about a sharp increase in activity by \"764\" and similar violent online networks that target minors and vulnerable people, coercing them into sexual exploitation, self-harm, and suicide; the agency says it has over 350 active investigations nationwide. This is a joke/observation about \"Hunter's Moon\" trending as a meme; no factual assertion to check. POST 2114545296827125986: NOCLAIM This is commentary about meme culture and crypto-style slang (\"drained,\" \"goontek\"), not a verifiable factual claim. POST 2114364483623961035: NOCLAIM An opinion that Instagram sets meme trends; no factual claim. POST 2115456429477749220: NOCLAIM A prediction that something will go viral; no factual claim. POST bsky:at://did:plc:x4qyokjtdzgl7gmqhsw4ajqj/app.bsky.feed.post/3myzo\nSource: fbi.gov NAMES: 764 = an online child-exploitation/extortion network the FBI calls a form of modern-day terrorism. POST 2114421276676616292: NOCLAIM (https://x.com/DramaAlert/status/2115886133787955333)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"The FBI has been publicly warning about a sharp increase in activity by \"764\" and similar violent online networks that target minors and vulnerable people, coercing them into sexual exploitation, self-harm, and suicide; the agency says it has over 350 active investigations nationwide. This is a joke/observation about \"Hunter's Moon\" trending as a meme; no factual assertion to check. POST 2114545296827125986: NOCLAIM This is commentary about meme culture and crypto-style slang (\"drained,\" \"goontek\"), not a verifiable factual claim. POST 2114364483623961035: NOCLAIM An opinion that Instagram sets meme trends; no factual claim. POST 2115456429477749220: NOCLAIM A prediction that something will go viral; no factual claim. POST bsky:at://did:plc:x4qyokjtdzgl7gmqhsw4ajqj/app.bsky.feed.post/3myzo","sourceName":"fbi.gov NAMES: 764 = an online child-exploitation/extortion network the FBI calls a form of modern-day terrorism. POST 2114421276676616292: NOCLAIM","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/DramaAlert/status/2115886133787955333","claim":"The FBI did a massive crackdown on a organization associated with harming children https://t.co/n0TrAIdBpo","author":"@DramaAlert"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/DramaAlert/status/2115886133787955333","name":"fbi.gov NAMES: 764 = an online child-exploitation/extortion network the FBI calls a form of modern-day terrorism. POST 2114421276676616292: NOCLAIM","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@DramaAlert"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793304157972-viral-segment-fbi-cracks-down-on-child-exploitation-network","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/viral","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793304157972-viral-segment-fbi-cracks-down-on-child-exploitation-network","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793304157972-viral-segment-fbi-cracks-down-on-child-exploitation-network and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Jake","text":"DramaAlert just posted about an FBI crackdown, and this one's serious. More than three hundred fifty active investigations into a network that targets children."},{"host":"Nora","text":"And this is real. The FBI has been publicly warning about this group — it's called 764 — and similar networks. All fifty-six field offices are involved."},{"host":"Jake","text":"Three hundred fifty active investigations. And the FBI itself calls this \"modern-day terrorism.\" Their actual language, not mine."},{"host":"Nora","text":"The group started with a teenager in Texas during the pandemic. Now it's spawned offshoot networks."},{"host":"Jake","text":"And what they do is depraved."},{"host":"Nora","text":"They groom minors online — mostly girls ten to seventeen. Coerce them into abuse material, self-harm, even suicide attempts."},{"host":"Jake","text":"The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is on track for nearly two thousand abuse reports tied to 764 or similar networks this year."},{"host":"Nora","text":"FBI Boston's Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks called their tactics \"depraved\" and \"ruthless.\" The Washington Post and Der Spiegel documented how investigators struggled to find laws that applied."},{"host":"Jake","text":"That's what makes me furious. They had the evidence and the legal system didn't have a box for it."},{"host":"Nora","text":"And the FBI's framing is \"Nihilistic Violent Extremism.\" Some participants aren't even in it for gratification. They're in it to sow chaos and destroy society."},{"host":"Jake","text":"It's terrorism. Targeting children to make them hurt themselves. I don't care what label you use — the response has to match the threat."},{"host":"Nora","text":"Parents need to know this exists. That's the one useful thing from DramaAlert posting it — it reaches people who might never see an FBI press release."},{"host":"Jake","text":"Check on your kids' DMs. Ask who they're really talking to. The FBI can't catch all of these people before someone gets hurt."},{"host":"Nora","text":"And nearly two thousand reports this year — that's not a spike, it's a flood. Probably underreported too, because kids don't come forward."},{"host":"Jake","text":"They're ashamed, they're scared, or they've been told their family will be hurt. That's how these networks work."},{"host":"Nora","text":"So when you see \"FBI crackdown on 764,\" it's not law enforcement jargon. It's hundreds of cases across the country, right now."},{"host":"Jake","text":"And it started with one teenager in Texas during COVID. One person set off an entire network. That's how fast this spreads."},{"host":"Nora","text":"No central leader. No headquarters. Just copycats and offshoots."},{"host":"Jake","text":"If you're a parent listening, the single best thing you can do is make sure your kid feels safe telling you when something weird happens online."},{"host":"Nora","text":"And now let's talk about something the internet is actually enjoying tonight. The Hunter's Moon."},{"host":"Jake","text":"The what now?"},{"host":"Nora","text":"Full moon tonight, and the internet has decided the name \"Hunter's Moon\" is already a meme. fuzzy konfusion posted on X — \"the name alone is already a meme.\" And honestly, they're right."},{"host":"Jake","text":"Sounds like a Netflix true crime documentary. \"Hunter's Moon: the night he struck.\""},{"host":"Nora","text":"People are posting pictures of it with captions that are just... \"HUNTER'S MOON.\" All caps. Like a warning."},{"host":"Jake","text":"The moon's been around forever and we're just now giving it an action movie title. Respect."},{"host":"Nora","text":"And a Hunter's Moon is a real thing. Full moon after the Harvest Moon, when hunters could supposedly see deer in the cleared fields. But the internet doesn't care about that."},{"host":"Jake","text":"No, the internet cares that it sounds like a WWE wrestler. Hunter's Moon, coming to SmackDown for the title."},{"host":"Nora","text":"And that's the internet in one post. Tears about an actual FBI investigation, then straight to moon memes."},{"host":"Jake","text":"Every October, same cycle. People discover the name, act surprised, post about it, and forget until next year."},{"host":"Nora","text":"The full moon is the internet's oldest annual trend. Beats skeleton war by centuries."},{"host":"Jake","text":"Here's one that'll start a fight. The Obscure posted on X that Instagram is the trendsetter for every new meme."},{"host":"Nora","text":"Instagram? The place memes go to die? No way."},{"host":"Jake","text":"Hear me out. Instagram Reels is where things actually blow up now. TikTok's algorithm is fast, but Instagram is where brands and regular people pick it up."},{"host":"Nora","text":"That's exactly backwards. Instagram is where trends go after they peak on TikTok. It's the retirement home for memes."},{"host":"Jake","text":"So explain why every viral sound, every dance, every challenge gets a second life on Reels weeks after TikTok? Instagram is where the normies live."},{"host":"Nora","text":"Because regular people are late to everything. TikTok is where memes are born. Instagram is where your aunt shares them with a \"haha so true\" caption."},{"host":"Jake","text":"But that's my point! A meme isn't a trend until it reaches your aunt. TikTok is the lab. Instagram is the market. The market decides what actually trends."},{"host":"Nora","text":"So an Instagram repost makes it a trend, not the original creation."},{"host":"Jake","text":"I'm saying the biggest audience is on Instagram. More eyeballs, more cultural weight. It's not where memes die, it's where they graduate."},{"host":"Nora","text":"Graduate to a slow decline while people from 2019 discover it."},{"host":"Jake","text":"Okay, that's fair. But reportedly, Instagram has more daily users than TikTok."},{"host":"Nora","text":"Fine. Memes are born on TikTok, peak on Instagram, and die on Facebook. Happy?"},{"host":"Jake","text":"I'll take it. Peak is the point."},{"host":"Nora","text":"But my issue with \"trendsetter\" — Instagram isn't creating anything. It's redistributing. That's trend-following with better reach."},{"host":"Jake","text":"If more people see it on Instagram, and more people participate because of Instagram, then Instagram is setting the trend for the majority. Origin doesn't matter. Adoption does."},{"host":"Nora","text":"Oh, come on. That's like saying the newspaper was the trendsetter because more people read it than attended the event."},{"host":"Jake","text":"The newspaper WAS the trendsetter! That's exactly how culture worked for a century!"},{"host":"Nora","text":"Fine. You win this round. Instagram is the newspaper of memes."},{"host":"Jake","text":"The newspaper of memes. I'm putting that in my bio."}]}