What is it?
Sadistic Online Exploitation (SOE) is the deliberate and malicious use of the internet to harm, manipulate or exert control over others for personal pleasure, gratification, sense of power, ideological beliefs or to corrupt victims and inflict ongoing harm. This will often incorporate alternative forms of psychological, emotional, or physical abuse through digital means.
Offenders from violent online groups use threats, blackmail and online manipulation to coerce victims into producing, sharing or live streaming acts of self-harm, animal cruelty, sexually explicit acts and in the most serious cases, suicide.
It is a form of online exploitation by people in known extremist online groups who manipulate victims to engage in progressively violent acts.
Right now, Australia is experiencing this growing, global threat.
If this has happened to you or someone you know, our specialist investigators will make sure you get the help and support you need.
How does it happen?
The number of SOE cases is increasing and the risk of harm to victims is significant.
Offenders initiate contact with children and young people through publicly available online platforms such as gaming platforms, social media apps or online forums used by children and young people. Offenders begin by building online trust or a romantic relationship, exploiting a child or young person’s natural need for connection. They offer false friendship or acceptance, then go on to manipulate and coerce victims into harmful, escalating behaviours designed to shame or isolate them.
Offenders will use common abusive tactics such as grooming, coercion and desensitisation to manipulate these children and young people into creating content or performing acts online that are often extreme and violent in nature.
These offenders are often part of dedicated online community groups who collaborate and engage in a variety of serious crimes, including online child sexual exploitation, violent extremism and cybercrime.
What should victims do?
Our specialist investigators will make sure victims get the help they need.
We are actively investigating and pursuing SOE offenders and working with our international network to support the efforts of our foreign law enforcement counterparts.
Due to the false sense of acceptance and belonging offenders work to establish, victims often don’t realise they are the victim of a crime making them less likely to identify the abuse, preventing them from seeking out help and support.
Alternatively, offenders might make a victim feel embarrassed, ashamed or scared of getting in trouble to discourage them from reporting the crime.
If you or someone you know is a victim of sadistic online exploitation, it is important to know that law enforcement is here to help.
Recognise the warning signs
Potential warning signs that a child or young person is a victim of SOE could include:
🚩 Signs of self-harm including carvings of symbols on their skin, bite marks and burns
🚩 Changes in eating or sleeping habits
🚩 Sudden withdrawal from family, friends, and/or usual activities
🚩 Secretive online behaviour, or extended periods of use with online devices
🚩 Use of extreme language, symbols and rejection of previously held morals
Do you need help?
If you are under the age of 18 and this has happened to you or another young person you know, we can help.
Community resources
SOE offenders are known to target children and young people without strong support networks. Everyone has a role to play in helping us raise awareness about SOE and how to get help.
Victims can suffer serious psychological impacts and there have been instances of suicide and self-harm directly linked to victims of this crime. We are urging the community to have important safety conversations with children and young people in their care to help prevent isolation or potential harm. A fact sheet has been developed in collaboration with the ACCCE and the Joint Policing Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (JPC3) to help you understand SOE, how it happens and who is at risk.
