According to GameSpot, Europol’s November 13 operation with eight European countries uncovered 5,408 links to jihadist content, 1,070 violent right-wing extremist links, and 105 racist/xenophobic content links on gaming platforms. Executive Director Catherine De Bolle revealed criminals are now “weaponizing” children for organized crime, moving beyond petty theft to torture and murder. In one horrific case, a young boy was ordered to kill his younger sister. The operation identified at least 105 instances where violent crimes were “performed as a service” by children, with some offered up to $20,000 for contract killings. Criminals groom children through innocent gaming chats before moving to private servers to extract personal information for blackmail.
How the grooming actually works
Here’s the terrifying part: this isn’t just random online encounters. Criminals are systematically targeting kids where they feel safe—in gaming environments. They start with normal conversations about pets and family, building trust over weeks or months. Then they gradually move the conversation to private platforms where the real manipulation begins. Once they have enough personal information—home addresses, family details—the threats begin. We’re talking about killing family pets, threatening parents, all to force compliance. And the worst part? These aren’t empty threats. Europol has documented cases where the violence actually happened.
This goes way beyond domestic crimes
Now here’s where it gets even more disturbing. De Bolle mentioned this isn’t just about organized crime groups anymore. State actors are apparently getting in on the action too, using what she calls “hybrid threat actors” to recruit children for information gathering and espionage. Basically, we’re looking at a crime-as-service model where children become remote-operated weapons for everything from domestic violence to potential acts of terrorism. The line between criminal exploitation and national security threats is blurring in ways we’ve never seen before.
The impossible parental dilemma
And what are parents supposed to do? De Bolle acknowledges this creates an impossible situation. Parents want to respect their children’s privacy, but they also need to protect them from predators who are exploiting that very privacy. The criminals are counting on that gap—the space between parental oversight and a child’s online autonomy. How do you monitor everything without destroying trust? How do you explain these dangers to a 12-year-old without terrifying them? These platforms, particularly those like Roblox with its predominantly under-13 user base, are becoming hunting grounds.
Where do gaming platforms stand?
Look, the elephant in the room here is platform responsibility. Europol didn’t name specific games, but we all know which platforms have been under scrutiny. Roblox Corporation is already facing lawsuits in Florida and Texas over child safety failures. Their new face-scanning initiative feels like too little, too late when we’re talking about children being manipulated into murder. The fundamental architecture of these platforms—with easy movement from public chats to private servers—creates the perfect environment for this kind of grooming to flourish. When you’re dealing with platforms where the primary user base can’t legally consent to most things in the real world, the safety measures need to be bulletproof.
This is our new reality
So where does this leave us? We’re looking at a paradigm shift in how criminals operate. They’ve found a vulnerability in our digital society that’s more effective than any hacking technique: exploiting children’s trust and innocence. The Europol operation uncovered thousands of pieces of dangerous content, but that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg. This isn’t going away—if anything, it’s becoming more sophisticated. And honestly, are law enforcement and gaming companies prepared to handle what’s coming next? Because the criminals certainly seem to be.
