Captured Through a Chat Platform

With the rise of violent episodes perpetrated by trans-identified people, the long overdue concerns of the negative impact of chat platforms are finally being addressed. This matters to us because our son was groomed while in college and disappeared six months later, never to be seen by us again. I’m not suggesting our son is potentially dangerous but I have no doubt that there are certain people in his community who are.

When I asked our son who was helping him navigate this new identity, he mentioned Tumblr. Back in 2014, I was unaware of this platform, or any others, so I did a quick search and was overwhelmed by the threads I stumbled upon. I later learned that what happened to our son was called “grooming” and it runs rampant in these spaces, in social media messaging, and gaming. Herein lie a multitude of predators or peers that find other vulnerable kids, convincing them that they too are trans. I’ve recently learned this effort is called “cracking eggs.”

Our then college-attending son closed the door to any conversation regarding his new trans identity. We were instantly deemed “unsafe” for asking why he desired a social and medical transition. Culture and influencers turn these vulnerable ones against parents, making it especially challenging to address the dangerous spaces they stumble into. The algorithm keeps them engaged, moving them into the darkest corners of the internet while altering their minds.

The famous atheist writer, Richard Dawkins, calls this capture a “mind virus,” defining it as “the spread of affect, attitude, or behavior where the recipient does not perceive an intentional influence attempt on the part of the initiator.”

As Sarah Mittermaier, who continues to do extensive research in these spaces, writes, “The trans movement then supercharges their disaffection and grievance by setting young people on an impossible (painful, alienating) quest to defy reality by telling them the world is out to get them…When reasonable voices are deleted from conversation, communities radicalize. When a community mythologizes martyrs, that community celebrates violence, it will instigate violence. How could it ever be otherwise?”

My husband noted this early saying, “These kids are just being used as fodder for greater purposes.” He was so right. Tools to benefit large corporations, the medical industry, tech platforms, predators, politicians…Our children and young people are being sacrificed for nefarious gain.

Parents, please protect and equip your children in dealing with these online spaces. As youth digital safety advocate Officer Gomez says, “don’t confidently believe your parenting is stronger than billion-dollar social media algorithms.” And if your child is on the Autism spectrum, they are at far greater risk of being radicalized. It can be alluring to socialize online with people where there is no need for eye contact, reading social cues, or body language, along with feeling a sense of belonging. It was for our son and we may never see him again.