JDramaAlert just posted about an FBI crackdown, and this one's serious. More than three hundred fifty active investigations into a network that targets children.
NAnd 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.
JThree hundred fifty active investigations. And the FBI itself calls this "modern-day terrorism." Their actual language, not mine.
NThe group started with a teenager in Texas during the pandemic. Now it's spawned offshoot networks.
JAnd what they do is depraved.
NThey groom minors online — mostly girls ten to seventeen. Coerce them into abuse material, self-harm, even suicide attempts.
JThe National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is on track for nearly two thousand abuse reports tied to 764 or similar networks this year.
NFBI 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.
JThat's what makes me furious. They had the evidence and the legal system didn't have a box for it.
NAnd 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.
JIt's terrorism. Targeting children to make them hurt themselves. I don't care what label you use — the response has to match the threat.
NParents 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.
JCheck on your kids' DMs. Ask who they're really talking to. The FBI can't catch all of these people before someone gets hurt.
NAnd nearly two thousand reports this year — that's not a spike, it's a flood. Probably underreported too, because kids don't come forward.
JThey're ashamed, they're scared, or they've been told their family will be hurt. That's how these networks work.
NSo when you see "FBI crackdown on 764," it's not law enforcement jargon. It's hundreds of cases across the country, right now.
JAnd it started with one teenager in Texas during COVID. One person set off an entire network. That's how fast this spreads.
NNo central leader. No headquarters. Just copycats and offshoots.
JIf 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.
NAnd now let's talk about something the internet is actually enjoying tonight. The Hunter's Moon.
JThe what now?
NFull 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.
JSounds like a Netflix true crime documentary. "Hunter's Moon: the night he struck."
NPeople are posting pictures of it with captions that are just... "HUNTER'S MOON." All caps. Like a warning.
JThe moon's been around forever and we're just now giving it an action movie title. Respect.
NAnd 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.
JNo, the internet cares that it sounds like a WWE wrestler. Hunter's Moon, coming to SmackDown for the title.
NAnd that's the internet in one post. Tears about an actual FBI investigation, then straight to moon memes.
JEvery October, same cycle. People discover the name, act surprised, post about it, and forget until next year.
NThe full moon is the internet's oldest annual trend. Beats skeleton war by centuries.
JHere's one that'll start a fight. The Obscure posted on X that Instagram is the trendsetter for every new meme.
NInstagram? The place memes go to die? No way.
JHear 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.
NThat's exactly backwards. Instagram is where trends go after they peak on TikTok. It's the retirement home for memes.
JSo explain why every viral sound, every dance, every challenge gets a second life on Reels weeks after TikTok? Instagram is where the normies live.
NBecause 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.
JBut 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.
NSo an Instagram repost makes it a trend, not the original creation.
JI'm saying the biggest audience is on Instagram. More eyeballs, more cultural weight. It's not where memes die, it's where they graduate.
NGraduate to a slow decline while people from 2019 discover it.
JOkay, that's fair. But reportedly, Instagram has more daily users than TikTok.
NFine. Memes are born on TikTok, peak on Instagram, and die on Facebook. Happy?
JI'll take it. Peak is the point.
NBut my issue with "trendsetter" — Instagram isn't creating anything. It's redistributing. That's trend-following with better reach.
JIf 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.
NOh, come on. That's like saying the newspaper was the trendsetter because more people read it than attended the event.
JThe newspaper WAS the trendsetter! That's exactly how culture worked for a century!
NFine. You win this round. Instagram is the newspaper of memes.
JThe newspaper of memes. I'm putting that in my bio.