Nihilistic violence includes violent acts lacking a unifying ideology or political goal, which are often driven by misanthropy and/or a desire to gain notoriety in online communities. In 2024 alone, at least four school shootings, five disrupted school-shooting plots, and two stabbing sprees have been linked to two of the most prominent subcultures associated with nihilistic violence. These groups revere school shooters regardless of their motives, replicating their most distinctive characteristics and, in some cases, targeting similar victims. They overlap in online spaces and interact with other subcultures, leading to the exchange of symbols, terminology, and memes—all without ideological coherence or political goals. Their constantly evolving nature makes it difficult to understand these networks and prevent violence. ISD has analysed how seemingly disconnected acts of violence have been linked to online communities centred around nihilistic worldviews, and whether this requires a dedicated prevention system or an expansion of existing counterterrorism approaches. In the past year, we have also launched a resource offering practical information and actionable advice to help families and communities respond to 764, a network that has become a growing threat targeting vulnerable communities, including minors. Read our latest investigations and explore more of our related work and resources at the links below: • Memetic violence: How the True Crime Community generates its own killers https://lnkd.in/dbWkPvjq • Terror without ideology? The rise of nihilistic violence – An ISD Investigation https://lnkd.in/dBJe8XWt • Online radicalization and the nexus to violence in the US: 2024 year in review https://lnkd.in/d5ip92jG • 764 https://lnkd.in/dmXeXaVU • Networks of Harm: A Victim-Centric Information Resource on the 764 Sextortion Network https://lnkd.in/dYmH7gQr
Nihilistic Violence Linked to Online Communities
This title was summarized by AI from the post below.
Looking forward to reading. I struggle with the idea of nihilism in youth and that it is the opposite of (or the lack of) an ideology; I see it more as the root or foundation of other philosophies. But with youth, I feel like we are misclassifying something - severe depression, apathy, and ambivalence. Youth who proclaim that life is meaningless and violence for the sake of violence, I think, are suffering from something more sophisticated. As youth are still forming their idea of the world, with little to no experience in it, I find it hard to accept that nihilism is a legitimate form of violence or justification of violence. The idea of nihilistic violence with youth seems to be very much situated in what we expect of youth: the struggle to develop agency and self, the pressure to develop ideas, opinions, and what to believe in, bringing about feelings of hopelessness and lack of belongingness. Add the bleakness of the world, complex peer groups, and need for acceptance, but oft rejection, with no reprieve, and the inability to process and reconcile that perceived unfairness or elucidate or reify their feelings or place in this world, I see it as an undeveloped or transitory state ... but I will read with an open mind