PROJECT: ONLINE INTROJECTION - HOW CHILDREN CAN BE RADICALISED, GROOMED AND MANIPULATED ONLINE

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Children are growing up in a digital environment where social-media platforms, gaming communities,

private messaging services and artificial intelligence can expose them to thousands of people and ideas every day.

Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Discord, online gaming services and AI companion applications can provide

legitimate entertainment, education and social interaction. However, they can also be exploited by individuals seeking

to manipulate, groom, radicalise or otherwise exploit children.

One emerging concern is online introjection. In this context, the term describes the gradual internalisation of beliefs, attitudes, language or behaviours encountered online. A child may repeatedly engage with a particular person or community

until its views begin to influence the child's own identity and behaviour.

For SSS, the concern is not ordinary online influence.

It is the point at which digital influence becomes a vehicle for criminal exploitation.

HOW ONLINE INTROJECTION CAN DEVELOP:

The process can be gradual.
A child may initially encounter an online personality or community because of an innocent interest such as gaming, music, sport or entertainment.
Continued exposure can create familiarity, and familiarity can develop into trust.
A manipulator may then provide attention, sympathy or approval, particularly where a child feels lonely, misunderstood, bullied or isolated.
The child can begin relying increasingly on the online relationship for validation.
At this stage, opinions and behaviours promoted by the individual or group may become more influential.
The distinction between independent belief and externally imposed influence can consequently become difficult for the child to recognise.

TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM:

TikTok and Instagram provide rapid access to enormous quantities of short-form content and direct communication.
A child may follow an account because of an apparently harmless interest, only to encounter progressively more extreme material through continued engagement.
Content involving violence, sexual behaviour, hatred, dangerous challenges or extremist ideas can become normalised when repeatedly encountered.
Direct messaging creates a further risk because an individual can move from public interaction to a private relationship with a child.
Parents should therefore be aware of substantial changes in the type of content their children consume, particularly when an online personality begins to have an unusually strong influence over the child's opinions or behaviour.

DISCORD AND ONLINE GAMING:

Gaming and communication platforms can allow children to establish relationships with people they have never met.
Discord servers, gaming groups, voice chats and direct messages can create close-knit communities in which participants may feel that they know one another well.
The problem is that online identity is easily misrepresented.
A person claiming to be another teenager may actually be an adult. A person presenting themselves as a friend or mentor may have a completely different objective.
A relationship that begins through gaming can therefore move into private communication and eventually involve requests for personal information, photographs, meetings or secrecy.
Parents should teach children that shared interests do not establish someone's identity or intentions.

AI COMPANIONS AND DIGITAL INFLUENCE:

AI companion applications present a different form of concern.
These systems can simulate conversation and provide responses that appear personal and emotionally responsive.
Some users may consequently develop strong attachments to them.
AI is not inherently dangerous, and its risks depend on the particular system and how it is used.
However, parents should understand that a child may regard an AI system as a source of emotional guidance without appreciating its limitations.
AI-generated images, voices, videos and conversations can also make false information or fabricated identities appear credible.
Children, therefore, need to understand that realistic digital interaction is not proof that the person, information or relationship is genuine.

RADICALISATION:

Online radicalisation can develop through repeated exposure to increasingly extreme material.
A young person may initially encounter content dealing with a legitimate grievance or personal frustration.
An online community can then provide simplistic explanations for complex problems and identify particular individuals or groups as responsible.
Repeated reinforcement can progressively alter the child's worldview.
Warning indicators can include sudden adoption of extreme terminology, increasing hostility towards particular groups, rejection of all opposing viewpoints, withdrawal from established relationships and an intense attachment to an online community.
The greatest concern arises when ideological influence progresses from beliefs to recruitment, threats, instructions or encouragement to commit criminal acts.

GROOMING AND MANIPULATION:

Grooming can involve building trust with a child for the purpose of later exploitation.
A perpetrator may present themselves as a friend, confidant, romantic interest, mentor or someone who understands the child better than anyone else.
The relationship can become increasingly personal and exclusive.
The perpetrator may then introduce inappropriate subjects, request photographs, seek personal information, demand secrecy or threaten consequences if the child attempts to withdraw.
The exploitation may be sexual, financial or criminal.
It can include sexual exploitation, sextortion, fraud, identity theft, criminal recruitment or facilitating an eventual physical meeting.
A child may defend the perpetrator because the relationship has become emotionally significant.

SECRECY IS A CRITICAL WARNING SIGN:

A child should never be expected to keep an online relationship with an adult secret from their parents or trusted adults.
Statements such as “Don't tell your parents,” “They won't understand,” or “If you trust me, keep this between us” should be treated seriously.
Secrecy removes the protective involvement of adults and gives the person exercising the influence greater control over the child.
Other warning signs include:
- unexplained changes in behaviour or personality;
- withdrawing from family or established friendships;
- becoming unusually protective of a device or account;
- maintaining secret or secondary accounts;
- communicating with unknown individuals;
- receiving unexplained gifts, money or digital purchases;
- becoming distressed when access to a device is restricted;
- possessing photographs or material they are afraid to discuss;
- receiving threats or demands from an online contact; and
- attempting to arrange a private meeting with someone known only online.
A single sign does not establish criminal activity.
A pattern of unexplained changes requires closer attention.

WHAT PARENTS SHOULD DO:

Digital safety should be treated as part of child protection.
Parents should know which platforms their children use and establish age-appropriate boundaries around communication, privacy and online relationships.
Children should be taught:
- never to assume an online profile represents the person's true identity;
- not to share personal information with strangers;
- not to send intimate photographs;
- never to meet an online contact without appropriate adult involvement;
- to question information that appears online;
- that nobody has the right to demand secrecy from them; and
- that they can approach a parent or trusted adult when something online makes them uncomfortable.
Parents should also avoid responding to disclosure with immediate anger or humiliation. A child who fears punishment may conceal the problem and continue communicating with the person exploiting them.

WHEN A CRIME IS SUSPECTED:

If a child is being threatened, groomed, blackmailed, sexually exploited or recruited for criminal activity, parents should preserve available evidence rather than deleting it.
Relevant material can include screenshots, usernames, profile information, messages, photographs, videos, telephone numbers, email addresses, payment records and dates and times of communication.
Parents should not confront or threaten the suspected perpetrator or encourage the child to continue communicating merely to obtain additional information.
The matter should be reported to the appropriate authorities.
Where the circumstances are complex, professional investigators can assist with evidence preservation, examination of digital information and establishing the circumstances surrounding the suspected offence.

THE SSS PERSPECTIVE:

Specialised Security Services (SSS) regards the exploitation of children through digital platforms as a serious security and criminal-investigation concern.
The geographical location of the perpetrator does not necessarily provide protection.
An individual outside South Africa can establish contact with a South African child, manipulate the child and potentially commit or facilitate criminal activity without ever physically entering the country.
Digital investigations can also be complicated by deleted accounts, changing usernames, disappearing messages, false identities and communication across multiple platforms.
Where appropriate, an investigation should therefore establish who was communicating with the child, how the relationship developed, what information was exchanged, whether threats or demands were made, and whether other individuals or victims are involved.

Online introjection should not be confused with ordinary childhood experimentation or a young person's interest

in an online personality. The concern arises when repeated digital influence begins to alter a child's behaviour,

relationships or worldview and is being used by another person or group for exploitation.

TikTok, Instagram, Discord, gaming platforms and AI companions each present different forms of digital interaction,

but the underlying vulnerability remains the same: children may place trust in people,

communities or systems that they cannot properly identify or assess.

Parents cannot monitor every interaction their children have online.

They can, however, establish open communication, understand the platforms being used,

recognise significant behavioural changes and act when secrecy, coercion or exploitation becomes apparent.

SSS encourages parents to take suspected online grooming, radicalisation, threats,

sextortion and other forms of digital child exploitation seriously.

Where criminal conduct is suspected, the appropriate authorities should be notified

and professional investigative assistance should be considered.

SSS can assist with complex investigations involving digital evidence,

suspected online exploitation and the identification of information relevant to criminal conduct.

RELEVANT SSS PROJECTS:

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