It’s been over two weeks since an 18-year-old from Yorkton was charged with terrorism-related offences, after allegedly posting a series of videos connected to the group “764.” According to the RCMP, 764 is an online group that has extreme ideological views and victimizes children with a broader goal of generating the collapse of society. “It’s dual purpose. The end goal is to destroy it all, but by doing that through extreme violence, child sexual abuse, torture, animal torture, gore, material distribution and desensitization,” said Supt. Matthew Johnson, the officer in charge of the RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team. “You’re also then realizing, allegedly, your full potential under this twisted ideological reference point.” Johnson says members can largely be found in online gaming platforms such as Roblox and Minecraft, as well as mobile apps like Discord and Telegraph, targeting the vulnerable youth demographic. “Routinely, the victim of choice of these groups and these offenders are minors,” said Johnson. “We’ve seen a particular spike in what I call ‘extreme minors,’ so children between 10 and 14, but all the way up until they hit adulthood at 18. We’ve also seen offenders and victims in their early 20s and late teens.” 764 was officially designated as a ‘terrorist entity’ by the Government of Canada in December 2025. 764 was started in late 2020. Experts are hoping that digital literacy can be taught to youth, in order to protect them from the 764, described as “transnational.” “Because of that, the chances of it being quite widespread are likely,” said Colleen Bell, an associate professor in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Bell, who teaches in the field of terrorism studies, says parents should keep an eye on their children’s online activity. “Just talk to your kids, tell them what concerns you, what you want them to be wary of,” she said. “If they think something is strange, or if somebody who they don’t know in real life is privately messaging them, that is something to monitor. It’s important that I think our kids are hopefully not communicating with people who they don’t know and their family doesn’t know online.” “This is not only victimizing our children but weaponizing them and turning them into weapons through horrific material and abuse,” Johnson said. “This is something that’s a whole society approach. Primary caregivers, being a parent, teacher, coach, responsible adult, we need to be actively engaged with our children of what they’re doing in the digital space.” Johnson says that the Yorkton teenager is the first group member that has been arrested in Saskatchewan. The suspect cannot be named as the crimes were allegedly committed when they were a youth. The teen is scheduled to appear in Yorkton Provincial Court again next week.
