Spanish police led a coordinated operation against ‘The Com’, a decentralized online network associated with violent and illegal content. Conducted between late June and early July 2026, the operation involved law-enforcement authorities from eight other European Union countries and Europol. It identified 4,340 links containing illicit material. Authorities notified service providers and requested removal of the links; the reported total counts links, not arrests or confirmed takedowns.
Spain’s Centro de Inteligencia contra el Terrorismo y el Crimen Organizado (CITCO) identified more than 2,800 links, about 65% of the total. The material was concentrated mainly on TikTok and Telegram. It depicted self-harm and suicide, alongside child sexual abuse. Investigators also found animal cruelty and violent assaults. Merito reported the operation’s figures and said its immediate enforcement measure was to notify providers and seek removal.
‘The Com’ is described as a transnational network of overlapping groups, not a single organization with a unified command structure. Spanish investigators cited by La Opinión de A Coruña identify 764 as its most prominent component and describe the network as a shifting constellation of groups. Reported ideological and cultural influences range from nihilism and misogyny to satanism and violent-content subcultures; investigators also cite elements associated with jihadist and far-right extremism.
Investigators say the groups use online services, including social media and messaging apps, to approach potential recruits and victims. Their reported channels include Telegram and Discord, while games such as Roblox and Minecraft form part of the broader recruitment environment. Information from investigators, the pattern runs from public-facing material to private chats and closed groups, where manipulation and victimization can intensify. The cross-border nature of these services can put users, evidence and operators in different jurisdictions.
Minors can be targeted as victims and, in some cases, drawn into abusive activity. The original account describes coercion involving self-harm and animal abuse, as well as harassment and violence. It also reports threats and the exposure of intimate images. Groups use coded language and symbols to conceal activity from adults. These tactics put the issue squarely before child-protection and cybercrime authorities, as well as agencies addressing violent extremism.
The network’s environment has also been associated with material promoting recruitment and manipulation, alongside extortion and violence. The account describes doxing, the publication of personal information to help harassment, and swatting, in which false emergency reports are used to provoke a police response. Both are cited as intimidation tactics. It also refers to videos of street assaults described within these circles as “manhunt,” along with arson-related material.
The link-identification operation formed part of a wider European response. La Opinión de A Coruña reported that, under Europol’s Compass project, authorities had arrested 30 people and were tracking more than 160 additional subjects in investigations into related networks. Those figures concern the broader effort, not the 4,340-link operation itself. The same newspaper reported that Spanish investigators had detected members of 764 and victims in Spain, and that three people had been detained in the country during the preceding year.
Spain’s Interior Ministry has prioritized the threat posed by ‘The Com’ in line with the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The operation shows how cross-border cooperation can help identify online material and direct removal requests to platforms. The available account focuses on URL identification and provider notifications; it does not establish how many links were ultimately removed. Protecting minors from recruitment and exploitation remains a basic challenge for investigators, with child-protection services and technology platforms also involved.
