An online environment described as a "wild west" is radicalizing children into carrying out nihilistic violence and mass casualty attacks, the Southport Inquiry heard.
Psychologists are working to understand a new set of motivations for violence that are being promoted to teenagers, many under the age of 15, through online communities focused on pro-anorexia, self-harm, or "gore" content. The second stage of the public inquiry, established in the wake of the July 2024 murders of three young girls in Southport, is examining "violence-fixated individuals"—those not driven by ideology but by a desire to terrorize society through widespread harm.
Chairman Sir Adrian Fulford stated his aim is to achieve the "greatest possible understanding" of what drives individuals like Axel Rudakubana to commit extreme acts of violence. The first phase of the inquiry concluded that the atrocity "could and should have been prevented." Phase two seeks to identify new government measures to prevent similar attacks.
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time, murdered six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice Aguiar in a knife attack at a dance class on July 29, 2024. He was subsequently jailed for life, with a minimum term of 52 years. During the first stage of the inquiry, it emerged that Rudakubana, who was autistic, had become fixated on the belief he was being bullied at school and was obsessed with "very disturbing imagery," including depictions of war, beheadings, and genocide.
Since the tragedy, three teenagers have been prosecuted for planning "copycat" attacks. Dr. Richard Taylor of the Clinical Consultancy Service reported that nearly 10% of the 1,534 individuals referred to his team between April 2024 and January 2026 had a fascination with extremist violence and mass casualty attacks. He noted it was "striking" that a third of these individuals were under 15.
In comparison, those with extreme right-wing ideologies accounted for 34% of referrals, and 16% were related to Islamist extremism. Professor Laura Smith, a psychologist at the University of Bath, explained that a "new reality of online youth extremism" involves young people joining interest communities online, such as those related to self-harm, eating disorders, or gore. These communities can then draw them into "nihilistic" extreme violence.
"Many of these groups offer status within the group in return for evidence of harm," Professor Smith said. She added that social media algorithms often continue to feed users extreme content once they begin viewing it. Common characteristics among those radicalized include a "disillusion with society, glorification of violence and a desire to bring about social instability, chaos, or collapse."
Professor Smith's research involved analyzing approximately 500,000 messages from 1,500 users in one such online group. She described the activity as a mix of "banal" everyday conversations interspersed with discussions of extreme violence. While significant harm was present, the atmosphere could be convivial, with users discussing mundane topics alongside violent content. The communities often involve "sexual hazing," where established members coerce new recruits into sharing sexual material for humiliation and control.
"The success of this network, and the popularity of it, is actually in the status of the social network," Professor Smith stated. "People socialise within this network, and they can achieve status if they are willing to share content and coerce harm."
She recommended that parental controls should require users to opt out rather than opt in. "It's a wild west out there, and we need to understand people's browsing, search history, app usage, gaming, social media usage as standard in order to understand the kinds of networks they're interacting with," she said.
Professor Smith also suggested that internet access should be restricted for individuals who have already perpetrated harm or pose a significant risk to others. She called for a consensus on defining this "new threat," a strategy for response, and clear guidance on which agencies are responsible for monitoring such individuals.
"People need more awareness of the risks and threats currently online - that includes frontline staff in the NHS and education, but also parents and carers," she urged. "We need training and education and we need mechanisms for sharing insights and standard operating procedures across agencies."
Dr. Tina Irani, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, expressed concern for young people who are "lost" to education, particularly those being homeschooled and increasingly socially isolated. "This has become a key concern. You have young people who were struggling to come to school and parents are taking them out and homeschooling them, so they become completely lost to the system," she explained.
Dr. Irani added that young people are "way, way smarter and quicker than us" in navigating the online world, and once they access content, they know how to bypass parental controls. Families of the victims have expressed hope that the inquiry's second phase will lead to "meaningful" change.
Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, representing families of girls who survived the attack, stated, "The only way that we can get proper change that is going to be meaningful is if we look across the country and we look at where things are at nationally."