Jakarta. Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism unit has identified 70 minors across the country who are members of online groups known as the True Crime Community (TCC), which authorities say are being used to circulate and normalize violence.

Densus 88, the police counterterrorism squad, said the children — aged between 11 and 18 — were found to be active in TCC-related online groups operating across 19 provinces.

“Based on our identification, there are 70 children who are members of True Crime Community groups spread across 19 provinces,” Densus 88 spokesperson Mayndra Eka told reporters during a press briefing at the National Police Criminal Investigation Department in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The highest concentrations were found in Jakarta, with 15 children, followed by West Java with 12 and East Java with 11. The remaining cases were spread across several other regions.

Authorities said 67 of the 70 minors have already undergone assessments and counseling, coordinated with local governments, schools, and social services. Police said the response prioritizes prevention and child protection rather than prosecution.

Most of the children involved are around 15 years old, typically in the transitional phase from junior to senior high school — a period experts say is marked by identity-seeking and heightened vulnerability.

According to Mayndra, bullying is one of the most common factors drawing children into online communities. “On average, these children are victims of bullying, either at school or in their social environment,” he said.

Family circumstances also play a significant role. Police assessments found many came from backgrounds marked by divorce, the death of a parent, domestic conflict, emotional neglect or exposure to violence at home. In other cases, parental absence due to work commitments left children seeking validation elsewhere.

“In these communities, they feel they have a second home,” Mayndra said. “Their aspirations are heard, they interact with peers, and they exchange ideas on how to solve problems — unfortunately, often through violence.”

What is TCC? A Global Online Subculture
According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), the True Crime Community (TCC) is not a formal organization but a loose online subculture  — often on Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, or private forums — centered on real-life criminal cases. While many true-crime forums focus on analysis or storytelling, ISD warns that more extreme corners of TCC spaces can glorify perpetrators, circulate violent imagery, and encourage imitation.

In this context, ISD uses the term TCC to describe the most extreme participants who obsess over high-profile attackers and, in some cases, attempt similar acts of violence.

Since early 2024, ISD has identified seven school shooters and nine attempted attackers worldwide with links to TCC forums. These include a series of school shootings in the United States between 2024 and 2025, as well as a June 2025 attack in Graz, Austria, where a 21-year-old linked to TCC forums killed 11 students at Dreierschützengasse High School.

In Indonesia, the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) said last November that the alleged perpetrator of an explosion at SMAN 72 in North Jakarta had accessed TCC-related groups. The suspect was a minor.

Investigators recovered toy weapons, including a mock long gun and a revolver, bearing the names of foreign attackers such as Brenton Tarrant, responsible for the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, as well as perpetrators of attacks in Quebec City and Macerata.