Examining How The Com and Related Networks Spread Content on Mainstream Social Media Platforms and Direct Users to Off-Platform Spaces
Content Warning: This report includes discussions about, and images related to the sexualization of minors, self-harm, and violence.
- Graphika analysts easily surfaced content using keywords and hashtags related to The Com and subnetworks on multiple mainstream social media platforms, including Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, and Roblox. This content exhibited common aesthetics and imagery, and the posting accounts followed behavioral patterns used by these communities.
- Twenty-six of the 31 accounts we manually reviewed and assessed represented participants of one or more of these networks included instructions, requests, and contact information to move interactions off-platform, primarily to Discord and Telegram.
- Users shared off-platform contact information in their bios, post captions, and in text overlaid onto images or videos within posts on mainstream social media platforms.
- A majority of the social media content we found involved videos or images of Roblox characters, reflecting how Roblox is a core platform through which The Com and its subnetworks have garnered an audience.
- We assess that some content we surfaced was posted by users who are not engaged in the harmful behaviors attributed to The Com or its subnetworks. Participants in The Com use several aesthetics, hashtags, and keywords that are popular within various online communities.