The “attacker fan scene”: How online users celebrate mass killers and the dangers it creates

Online communities that celebrate mass shooters and attackers do more than express shock or sympathy after a violent incident. They turn perpetrators into heroes, suggest romantic or friendship-based links with them, and glorify, minimize or approve their crimes.

The Baden-Württemberg State Authority for Communications examined the phenomenon in a special analysis. Baden-Württemberg’s domestic intelligence agency says many online participants in the attacker fan scene are young. Even so, it describes them as having an extreme affinity for violence, which can push both themselves and others toward further radicalization.

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Nevertheless, they show an extreme affinity for violence, which further radicalizes both themselves and others within the scene.

Authorities identify two major dangers. In extreme cases, people may be encouraged to act on violent fantasies. The community can also reinforce itself: each act of violence may generate a new wave of fan content. The communications authority also warns that such material may violate youth-protection rules online, while approving crimes could have criminal-law consequences.

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The attacker fan scene is considered particularly dangerous because it reinforces itself.

The formats vary. AI-generated videos may show perpetrators dancing while displaying the number of people they killed. Gameplay videos recreate attacks and school shootings. One expert from the communications authority said the aim is often to outdo the original crime. In a recreated attack on a synagogue in Halle, for example, the scenario reportedly imagines getting into the building and killing people, unlike the real perpetrator.

Creators use coded language, emojis and altered spellings to keep their posts from being quickly found and removed. They may call perpetrators “actors,” use hashtags that make the event appear fictional, or describe the number of victims as “hugs” or “gifts.” The article also refers to a July case in which a 16-year-old seriously injured two students at a high school in Schongau, Bavaria. Investigators said the Croatian teenager had allegedly glorified mass shootings on social networks.

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The aim is often to outdo the original act.