A structured model of how online networks target, groom, coerce, and mobilize young people. Written so that parents, practitioners, and investigators can finally see the same threat in the same language.
Grounded in frontline casework, direct research into these networks, federal case records, and peer-reviewed scholarship. Nothing from inside the networks is ever reproduced here.
Each column is an adversary objective; each card is an observable technique. Select a technique to read what it looks like from your vantage point — and what to do. Pathways are non-linear, techniques may co-occur, repeat, and skip.
Every entry is governed by binding editorial rules before publication. Content that cannot satisfy them does not exist on this site — in any tier.
Entries describe what techniques look like to defenders, never how to perform them. No scripts, no step sequences, in either direction.
The research behind the Framework includes direct examination of these networks, and none of that material is reproduced, quoted, or linked here, in any tier. Published citations come only from court records, government advisories, and published research.
No glossary of slang, symbols, or community names. The appearance of unfamiliar insider terminology in a child's world is itself the indicator. The culture is never cataloged here.
Manipulation is described by function — trust-building, secrecy enforcement, shame leverage — because recognition never requires reproduction.
Parent and practitioner content is public. Investigative detail and networking (Coming Soon) is distributed only through vetted law-enforcement and practitioner channels.
Young people are victims of crime, not initially responsible as culpable participants. Every escalation routes to live help, and every example is designed to be safe for an at-risk reader to encounter.
The full Matrix at parent and practitioner depth, response guidance, the framework specification and whitepaper, and a maintained map of federal and state child-safety legislation.
Free, permanent, no accounts, no tracking.
Unclassified platform-specific artifact references, investigative methodology, and training materials — distributed through law-enforcement and vetted practitioner channels, not through this website.
Verification is by professional affiliation (agency email, ICAC/task-force membership, or documented practitioner credential). Request access by email from your agency address. Nothing sensitive is stored or served here.
If a child is in immediate danger, call emergency services first. Everything else can wait.
Call or text 988, any hour. If online harm is part of what's happening, say so — it matters to the response.
report.cybertip.org — the national reporting channel for online child exploitation. Preserve evidence; don't delete accounts or messages.
takeitdown.ncmec.org can hash images taken when under 18 and have participating platforms block their spread — without the image ever leaving the device.
ic3.gov — file a report for sextortion, threats, doxxing, and coordinated online abuse. Reports connect cases across jurisdictions.
If something feels wrong but you can't name it, read your lens above. Naming the pattern is the first protective act.