In March this year, founder Pavel Durov said Telegram surpassed over 1 billion users, making it the fourth biggest instant messaging app on the planet. People flock to it for all sorts of reasons, but mainly because it doesn’t require a phone number, has enhanced privacy, and is pretty smooth to use.But the app has also become a hotbed of disinformation, extremism, and incitement to violence, and crimes linked to the platform include bomb plots, stabbings, and shootings. Earlier this year, one particular story stood out as a prime example of how young people are being radicalized by the information they’re consuming on Telegram.In June, a 12-year-old boy was charged with three felony counts of arson and five counts of criminal damage to property after being accused of setting three cars on fire over the course of six days in Wisconsin. A close look at Telegram revealed that a child appearing to be responsible was influenced by extremist groups associated with “764,” specifically a group that call themselves “SuicideHill.”764, which was founded in 2020 by a U.S. teenager called Bradley Cadenhead, is a right-wing Satanist network that has spread across the world via the internet, largely through encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram and Discord. Groups affiliated with it use a combination of violent imagery, Nazi symbolism, and psychological manipulation to exploit vulnerable youth; coercing and blackmailing them into self-harm, violence against others, sexually explicit acts, and crimes that can then be weaponized for propaganda and recruitment.The profile image of “GhostyK” on Telegram includes the letters “SH,” referencing SuicideHill.A child operating on Telegram using the handle “GhostyK” posted video footage of the arson attacks in an extremist group chat. One video shows him carving and spray-painting “SuicideHill” onto vehicles before igniting them. Via his personal Telegram account, he also posted images of himself holding the same blowtorch used in the attacks, with additional videos clearly showing him committing the crimes while marking vehicles with the group’s name. After posting the footage on the SuicideHill Telegram channel, he commented: “Btw I stayed there for a good solid 20 minutes Cause I was surrounded and someone pulled up not even a block down. I made it out though and I’m back home ”These messages and videos appeared in a Telegram chat known for promoting violent acts and posting antisemitic and racist content, as well as disturbing imagery involving minors. In this environment, the boy engaged in multiple troubling conversations. In one exchange, he encouraged a suicidal user to follow through with the act on camera.One of the videos posted by the suspect shows him spray-painting the group name “suicidehill” on cars before setting them on fire.Not long after the boy’s arson attacks, a post on the SuicideHill channel included footage of his crimes as part of a compilation video designed to glorify violence and recruit new members. This edited version included images of firearms, bullets arranged to spell “SH,” and graphic self-harm footage showing young people who’d written “SuicideHill” in blood. Under the video, the message read: “SH will reak [sic] terror on all, dm for the requirements now. join in the terror.” Another post declared: “The terror is back and final. SH has reset the full roster. We are back. More terror will come, more killing will come, more pain will ensue on this world.”Stories like this are not rare. Earlier this year, a British teenager affiliated with 764 pleaded guilty to encouraging suicide, possessing a terrorism manual, and indecent images of a child. And in March this year, an American teenager and member of 764 was sentenced to serve 84 months in federal prison for possessing child sexual abuse material. In fact, the FBI alone has more than 250 investigations underway with regards to the 764 network.As for the arson attack in Wisconsin, the footage will most likely be repurposed indefinitely to glorify the acts, recruit additional members, and coax even more minors into aggressive extortion, continuing a cycle of exploitation that has made 764 one of the most alarming threats to child safety in the digital age.Read more about 764: The Vile Sextortion and Torture Ring Where Kids Target KidsThe post A 12-Year-Old Boy’s Arson Arrest May Be Linked to a Global Terror Network appeared first on VICE.