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Australia’s new Federal Police Commissioner, Krissy Barrett, has issued a stark warning about the rise of so-called "crimefluencers"—networks of individuals who exploit young girls online in particularly cruel ways. Taking over from Reece Kershaw earlier this month, Barrett is the first woman to lead the AFP and used her first major address to highlight what she calls a disturbing new front in gender-based violence.
Barrett explained that these crimefluencers operate in decentralized networks both within Australia and overseas. They glorify criminal behavior online, including acts of sadistic exploitation, cyberattacks, and violence. While these groups lack any centralized leadership or shared ideology, they are connected by an attraction to violent extremism, nihilism, sadism, and ideologies like Nazism and Satanism. Their motivation is not money or sexual gratification but rather chaos, anarchy, and the desire to hurt others.
Mostly comprised of young boys and men from Western English-speaking backgrounds, these crimefluencers target vulnerable young girls, especially pre-teens and teenagers. Barrett emphasized that the victims often suffer from low self-esteem or mental health issues such as self-harm and eating disorders, which makes them more susceptible to grooming and manipulation online. The perpetrators draw in their victims through a culture similar to multiplayer online gaming, where acceptance into the network requires performing vile tasks.
These tasks often involve sharing disturbing videos or images, including those depicting self-harm or violence against others, such as siblings or even pets. The young offenders use these acts as "tests" or "levels" in a twisted form of gamification, where the more depraved content they produce, the higher status they gain within the group. In some cases, victims are even traded among perpetrators like game characters, with each new abuser gaining control over them.
Commissioner Barrett refrained from naming specific groups to avoid giving them the notoriety they seek but made it clear that these crimefluencer networks have very real consequences beyond the digital world. She urged awareness of this new theme in gender-based violence and warned that these crimes are not just online but spilling into physical harm. The AFP is taking the threat seriously, recognizing it as a complex issue involving mental health, online safety, and extremism.
Barrett’s warning sheds light on a chilling trend where online culture and violent extremism combine to target some of society’s most vulnerable. She called on communities, parents, and authorities to understand the nature of this threat and take steps to protect young people from falling prey to these manipulative and dangerous networks. More details and measures to combat this evolving problem are expected in the coming weeks.
