10 Disturbing Communities from the Dark Corners of the Internet

The internet has transformed nearly every aspect of modern life. It has revolutionized education, medicine, entertainment, and communication, allowing billions of people to connect instantly and share knowledge across the globe. Most online communities revolve around harmless hobbies, shared interests, or mutual support, bringing together people who might never have met otherwise.

Yet the same technology that connects people for good can also unite those with far darker interests. Hidden behind usernames, encrypted platforms, and anonymous message boards, some online communities have evolved into spaces that encourage harassment, extremism, criminal activity, or real-world violence. While many have been removed from mainstream platforms, they often reappear elsewhere, making them difficult for authorities to monitor or dismantle.

Fortunately, these groups represent only a tiny fraction of internet culture. Even so, their influence demonstrates how online communities can sometimes spill beyond the digital world with alarming real-world consequences.

Related: 10 Things the Internet Swears by That Simply Aren’t True

10 The Zizians

The Zizians emerged from individuals associated with parts of Silicon Valley’s rationalist movement, a loose community that generally promotes critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and philosophical debate. While the broader movement is not associated with violence, a small faction surrounding Jack Amadeus “Ziz” LaSota developed a far more radical ideology.

LaSota, a computer programmer, gained attention through increasingly eccentric blog posts combining philosophy, anarchism, veganism, and unconventional theories about consciousness. Followers—including several highly educated software engineers—adopted ideas they described as “vegan Sith” while rejecting many conventional social norms, sometimes living aboard boats or in vehicles.

Authorities allege that members or suspected members of the group have been linked to multiple violent crimes across several states, including the deaths of a Border Patrol agent, a California landlord, and a Pennsylvania couple. Although many criminal cases remain ongoing, investigators believe the group’s online ideology may have played a significant role in radicalizing its members.^[1]

9 Twin Flames Universe

Twin Flames Universe presents itself as an online spiritual community dedicated to helping people find their predestined romantic partner, or “twin flame.” Founded by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, the organization offers relationship coaching, online courses, and private communities centered on the belief that every person has one perfect soulmate.

Former members, journalists, and several documentaries have accused the organization of operating more like a high-control group than a conventional self-help community. Participants reportedly paid thousands of dollars for coaching while receiving increasingly intrusive advice about relationships, gender identity, and personal decisions. In some documented cases, followers were encouraged to continue pursuing former partners despite restraining orders or repeated rejection.

Michigan authorities are currently investigating allegations involving Twin Flames Universe, although no criminal conclusions have yet been reached. Regardless of the investigation’s outcome, the organization has become one of the internet’s most controversial examples of online communities blurring the line between self-help and alleged coercive control.^[2]

8 The Cannibal Cafe

Few internet communities have gained as much notoriety as the Cannibal Cafe. The forum became internationally infamous after German cannibal Armin Meiwes used it to find Bernd Brandes, the man he later killed and partially consumed in 2001. The shocking case demonstrated that even the internet’s most disturbing fantasies could sometimes have horrifying real-world consequences.

Although Cannibal Cafe was eventually shut down, online communities centered on cannibalism did not disappear. Instead, discussions migrated to private forums and niche websites where users continued sharing fantasies, fictional roleplay, and graphic material. Most participants never commit acts of violence, but the Meiwes case permanently changed how law enforcement viewed online communities built around extreme criminal fantasies.

Today, investigators remain alert to similar forums because they occasionally attract individuals whose interests extend beyond fantasy into real-world criminal behavior. The Cannibal Cafe remains one of the earliest examples of an online community becoming directly associated with a notorious violent crime.^[3]

7 WatchPeopleDie

At its peak, Reddit’s r/WatchPeopleDie attracted more than 425,000 subscribers by hosting uncensored videos and photographs of real deaths. Some users claimed the community encouraged a realistic understanding of mortality or documented dangerous situations that mainstream media avoided. Others visited simply for shock value.

The subreddit featured footage ranging from industrial accidents and traffic fatalities to war crimes and executions, often accompanied by graphic discussions in the comment sections. Its existence sparked years of debate over where platforms should draw the line between documenting reality and encouraging voyeurism.

Following the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, users began sharing footage from the attack despite widespread efforts to remove it across the internet. Reddit subsequently banned the community, citing repeated violations of its content policies. Although similar material continues to circulate elsewhere online, r/WatchPeopleDie remains one of the internet’s most infamous examples of graphic content reaching a mainstream audience.^[4]

6 Stormfront

Launched in 1995 by former Ku Klux Klan leader Don Black, Stormfront became one of the internet’s earliest and most influential white supremacist forums. For decades, it served as a gathering place for neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, and other extremists who used the site to spread racist propaganda, conspiracy theories, and calls for violence.

Although its active membership was relatively small compared with mainstream social media platforms, researchers have linked Stormfront users to numerous hate crimes and extremist attacks over the years. Civil rights organizations have described the forum as one of the internet’s most significant incubators of online radicalization, helping extremist ideologies spread far beyond its own user base.

Stormfront has repeatedly lost hosting providers and domain services as technology companies distanced themselves from the site, yet it has continued to reappear through alternative infrastructure. Its longevity illustrates one of the greatest challenges facing online moderation: removing extremist communities from one platform rarely prevents them from resurfacing somewhere else.^[5]

5 Kiwi Farms

Kiwi Farms began in 2013 as a niche internet forum but quickly gained notoriety for its culture of organized online harassment. The site became known for targeting internet personalities, journalists, activists, and members of the transgender community through coordinated campaigns that frequently included doxing, stalking, impersonation, and sustained abuse.

Founded by Joshua Moon, the forum developed a reputation for documenting its targets in exhaustive detail while encouraging members to continue digging for personal information. Critics argued that the site’s structure rewarded harassment by allowing users to collaborate anonymously and amplify one another’s efforts. Over the years, the forum was cited in connection with several suicides and numerous allegations of real-world intimidation, although direct responsibility has often been difficult to establish.

After mounting public pressure, Cloudflare and several other service providers withdrew support for Kiwi Farms in 2022, forcing the site offline temporarily. It has since resurfaced through alternative hosting providers, illustrating how difficult it has become to permanently remove determined online communities once they establish a dedicated following.^[6]

4 The Nth Room

In 2019, South Korea uncovered one of the largest online sexual exploitation networks in its history. Operating primarily through encrypted Telegram chatrooms known collectively as the Nth Room, the network blackmailed women and children into producing sexually explicit material using threats, deception, and coercion. Victims were often lured with fake job offers before being extorted into creating increasingly abusive content.

The operation consisted of multiple private chatrooms—including “Doctor’s Room” and “Baksa Room”—that charged users substantial fees for access to increasingly graphic material. The anonymity provided by encrypted messaging apps allowed administrators to recruit victims and distribute illegal content while remaining hidden from authorities for years.

Public outrage eventually led to sweeping police investigations, legislative reforms, and the arrests of several key organizers. Investigators estimated that tens of thousands of users may have participated in the network, making it one of the most significant cyber-enabled sexual exploitation cases ever uncovered. The scandal fundamentally changed how South Korea approaches digital sex crimes and online anonymity.^[7]

3 764

764 is a decentralized online network that investigators say has used encrypted platforms such as Discord and Telegram to groom, exploit, and extort vulnerable teenagers. Believed to have originated from a small online community before expanding internationally, the group has become notorious for coercing victims into acts of self-harm, sexual exploitation, and increasingly dangerous forms of abuse.

Members typically begin by persuading victims to share explicit photos or personal information. They then use blackmail and psychological manipulation to demand escalating acts of self-harm or humiliation, often requiring victims to document everything on video. In one widely reported case, a victim was coerced into setting himself on fire during a livestream while other members allegedly encouraged the abuse.

Although law enforcement agencies have arrested several individuals connected to the network, investigators believe many affiliated groups remain active across multiple online platforms. The decentralized nature of 764 makes it particularly difficult to dismantle, as new communities frequently appear after older ones are removed.^[8]

2 Columbiners

Few crimes have cast a longer shadow over internet culture than the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Over the years, an online subculture known as the Columbiners has emerged around the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Members discuss the attack, collect photographs and writings, create fan art, and, in some cases, romanticize the perpetrators.

The community exists across multiple social media platforms, including Tumblr, Instagram, TikTok, and smaller discussion forums. While many participants describe their interest as historical or psychological, others openly glorify the shooters or create memes celebrating mass violence. This behavior has drawn repeated criticism from educators, mental health professionals, and victims’ families.

It is important to note that the overwhelming majority of people who engage with Columbine-related content never commit acts of violence. Nevertheless, investigators have documented several later mass shooters who cited Harris and Klebold as inspirations, demonstrating how online communities centered on violent offenders can contribute to the continued cultural legacy of infamous crimes.^[9]

1 The Order of Nine Angles

The Order of Nine Angles (O9A) is one of the oldest and most notorious extremist movements to establish a significant online presence. Emerging in the United Kingdom during the 1970s, the group combines neo-Nazism, accelerationism, Satanism, and occult philosophy into an ideology that encourages adherents to embrace violence and social chaos as a path toward creating a new fascist society.

Over time, O9A’s writings have spread through encrypted messaging apps, private forums, and extremist websites, reaching audiences far beyond its original membership. Security agencies in several countries have linked individuals influenced by the group’s ideology to terrorism investigations, murder plots, and violent extremist organizations, including the Atomwaffen Division. Although O9A lacks a centralized hierarchy, its decentralized structure has allowed its ideas to circulate widely online.

Counterterrorism experts regard the Order of Nine Angles as one of the internet’s most dangerous extremist movements because it actively encourages criminal violence rather than merely promoting hateful beliefs. Its continued presence demonstrates how online communities can provide ideological support, networking opportunities, and propaganda that extend far beyond the digital world, making the group an ongoing concern for law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide.^[10]