Wolf Packs of the Web

Understanding and Resisting Mass Online Harassment

What the hell is happening when hundreds of strangers decide you're a monster and your inbox floods with hate and your friends become targets just for defending you?

You’ve got a wolf pack on your tail.

Content Warning: This article discusses coordinated online harassment, including extreme cases resulting in suicide. It contains descriptions of targeted abuse and psychological manipulation and its impacts on individuals.

What is a Wolf Pack?

Unlike the Lone wolf harassers that I covered previously who target victims over months or years with relentless, focused abuse, Wolf Packs use a different tactic. These groups overwhelm their victims with waves of simultaneous attacks. Directed by public or anonymous leaders, who function as troll “generals”, and carried out by troll “soldiers,” wolf packs bombard their targets with abuse, threats, and accusations in a coordinated effort to break them emotionally and socially.

Show them and anyone who stands with them what it means to cross us!

The sheer volume of harassment creates an emotional avalanche, making it impossible to respond or defend yourself. And these mobs don’t just target individuals, they attack their support networks, isolating victims by spreading fear to anyone who might stand by them.

These harassment mobs aren’t random. They are coordinated psychological assaults designed to overwhelm and silence their victims. For victims, these attacks can feel like the end of the world.

Why Wolf Packs Matter: The Human Cost

Wolf pack attacks leave scars far beyond the screen. The psychological toll can shatter victims’ sense of safety, leaving them isolated, traumatized, and unable to trust the world around them. In extreme cases, these attacks have driven victims to leave jobs, abandon communities, or even take their own lives.

The power of wolf packs lies in their ability to target not only their victims but everyone around them. Defenders, friends, colleagues, even bystanders, are harassed, forcing the target into further isolation. Some withdraw to protect others from harm; others are abandoned by frightened allies. Either way, the victim is left alone to face hundreds, sometimes thousands, of attackers.

Wolf packs rely on two primary psychological weapons:

• Shame: Repeated accusations designed to make the target feel worthless, monstrous, or undeserving of support.

• Isolation: Systematic attacks on the target’s allies to sever their social bonds, leaving them vulnerable and alone.

As social primates, human beings are wired to need connection. When wolf packs systematically dismantle someone’s support system while flooding them with intense shame, it triggers primal psychological wounds. Social exclusion, long hardwired as a survival threat, becomes a weapon. Wolf packs exploit this vulnerability ruthlessly.

Attacks can range from short-lived drive-bys to sustained campaigns lasting months. Drive-bys drown the victim in hundreds of hateful messages over hours or days, overwhelming their emotional defences. Sustained attacks ensure there’s no time to recover. Each wave of abuse keeps the victim in a state of heightened stress and despair, shattering any sense of safety or normalcy.

When hundreds coordinate to destroy your character while simultaneously dismantling your support system, the effects are devastating. This weaponisation of shame and isolation makes wolf packs devastatingly effective at silencing their targets and warning others to stay quiet too.

How Wolf Packs Form: Ideology and Sadism

All wolf packs thrive on sadism, the shared enjoyment of inflicting harm, but the motivation for that cruelty varies. Wolf packs form when individuals with similar motivations find each other online, often coalescing around shared grievances, issues, or charismatic leaders. Once the group identifies a target, individual acts of cruelty merge into a coordinated campaign of collective harassment.

Ideology-Driven Wolf Packs

In ideology-driven wolf packs, harassment is framed as righteous action. Members believe they are fighting for justice, using shared grievances or beliefs to excuse their cruelty.

• Grievance Communities: Anti-vaccine and anti-psychiatry wolf packs often emerge from groups that share personal stories of harm. These grievances escalate into conspiracy theories about doctors, scientists, or mental health professionals, casting them as villains deserving punishment.

• Gender-Critical and Far-Right Groups: More extreme packs attack entire communities under the guise of defending morality or safety. Gender-critical wolf packs frame their harassment of trans individuals as protecting women’s spaces, while far-right packs use similar tactics to target marginalized groups.

While these groups justify their actions through moral outrage, they remain focused on their ideological goals. Their cruelty stems from their belief that their targets represent a threat to their values or communities.

Sadism-Driven Wolf Packs

Sadism-driven wolf packs dispense with moral pretence entirely. For these groups, cruelty is its own reward. Platforms like Kiwi Farms exemplify this dynamic, where harassment is turned into entertainment, and targets are chosen based on their perceived vulnerability.

Members of these packs compete to provoke the most extreme reactions, treating their victims’ suffering as a communal spectacle. Success is measured in the emotional damage inflicted, with the ultimate goal being to drive the target to despair. For these groups, cruelty isn’t a means to an end, it’s the end itself.

How Wolf Packs Evolve: Escalation and Radicalisation

Most wolf packs exist on a spectrum between ideology and sadism, blending moral justifications with the thrill of inflicting harm. Regardless of their initial motivation, all wolf packs rely on shared psychological mechanisms to escalate cruelty and turn individuals into active participants in collective harassment.

Escalation Within Grievance Communities

What begins as shared pain and collective outrage often evolves into a culture of cruelty. Grievance communities, such as anti-vaccine or anti-psychiatry groups, form around personal stories of harm, where members bond over mutual anger and mistrust. But as harassment becomes normalized within the pack, the group’s moral outrage transforms into a justification for escalating attacks. Cruelty shifts from being a means to achieve justice to a central part of the group’s identity. Over time, the shared goal of punishing perceived enemies binds members together more than the original cause ever could.

Far-right groups frequently infiltrate these communities, amplifying grievances and embedding them in broader ideological conspiracies. These infiltrators redirect existing anger toward new enemies and more extreme narratives, encouraging increasingly aggressive behaviour. Vulnerable targets, such as marginalised individuals or those with visible public profiles, are singled out as the group’s focus shifts toward sustaining its own cohesion through acts of collective cruelty.

Radicalisation: Cognitive and Emotional Dynamics

Once cruelty becomes normalized, individuals within the wolf pack undergo psychological shifts that deepen their participation in harassment. One of the most powerful drivers is conformity bias, the human tendency to align with the behaviours and norms of those around us. Members often begin with small actions, such as liking posts or repeating insults, but quickly escalate to more extreme harassment to gain approval within the group. This creates a feedback loop where cruelty is rewarded with social validation, transforming the group’s norms into a self-reinforcing cycle of escalating harm.

At the same time, oxytocin, a neurochemical often called the "cuddle hormone," plays a surprising dual role. While it strengthens bonds within the group, fostering a sense of camaraderie and trust, it also amplifies hostility toward outsiders. This same hormone that deepens in-group loyalty intensifies feelings of rage, disgust, and moral superiority toward perceived enemies. Within the pack, harassment feels not only justified but emotionally rewarding, reinforcing the belief that the target deserves punishment.

As members become desensitized to the harm they cause, moral disengagement allows them to rationalize their actions. Justifications such as "they deserve it" or "it’s for the greater good" suppress empathy and reinforce a sense of righteousness. Over time, cruelty becomes second nature, and the pack sustains itself as members bond over their shared acts of harassment. What started as outrage evolves into a self-perpetuating cycle of harm, where the thrill of cruelty outweighs any moral qualms.

How Wolf Packs Operate: Leadership and Coordination

Wolf packs don’t act spontaneously. Behind every coordinated harassment campaign is a troll general, a leader who mobilises and directs their followers into devastating attacks. These generals use their platforms and influence to focus the pack’s collective energy, framing harassment as justified, necessary, or even entertaining.

At the heart of every wolf pack attack is the howl, the signal that identifies the target and incites the pack to action. The style of howl and the tactics used to sustain the attack depends on the type of troll general leading the charge. Public and anonymous generals employ different strategies, but their shared goal is to unleash overwhelming harm on their target.

The Howl: Mobilizing the Pack

The howl is the rallying cry that activates the wolf pack. It points followers to a target and justifies the attack. Whether delivered indirectly or explicitly, the howl signals that harassment is not only acceptable but necessary. Once the pack is mobilised, generals manipulate three emotional dynamics to maximise harm: overwhelming hostility, enforced isolation, and sadistic bonding.

1. Public Troll Generals
   Public troll generals are high-profile figures, activists, influencers, media personalities, or conspiracy theorists, who exploit their platforms to incite harassment while maintaining plausible deniability. They carefully craft their howls using coded language or provocative accusations, inspiring action without explicitly instructing their followers. Many of these generals also stand to gain financially, further incentivising their campaigns of abuse.

   • Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull: A prominent gender-critical activist, Keen-Minshull frequently accuses trans individuals and their allies of undermining women’s rights and compromising safety. Her inflammatory rhetoric frames her targets as existential threats or predators, providing her followers with justification for harassment. While she avoids issuing explicit instructions to attack, her rallies and online statements function as howls that incite widespread abuse. Keen-Minshull has also leveraged her notoriety to build a platform and secure financial support, blending activism with personal gain.

   • Alex Jones: As the conspiracy theorist behind Infowars, Jones weaponized outrageous claims to mobilize his audience while profiting from their outrage. His repeated accusations, such as labelling the parents of Sandy Hook victims as "crisis actors," were crafted to stoke anger and drive traffic to his platform. This outrage funnelled directly into revenue streams, including merchandise and supplement sales. Unlike Keen-Minshull, Jones’s tactics ultimately led to his undoing. The legal consequences of his defamation campaigns culminated in massive financial penalties, dismantling his empire and demonstrating the risks of pushing these strategies too far.

   Public generals weaponize their platforms to shape the narrative, framing their targets as villains who "deserve" the mob’s attention. By stoking outrage while skirting responsibility, they unleash the wolf pack while protecting their own reputations.

2. Anonymous Troll Generals
   Anonymous generals operate openly but rely on anonymity to shield themselves from consequences. Unlike public generals, they face no reputational risk and can therefore issue far more explicit and extreme instructions. Their howls often take the form of direct calls to harass, such as doxxing (exposing personal information), swarming (mass spamming of messages), or coordinated reporting campaigns.

   • QAnon: Anonymous leaders within the QAnon conspiracy movement—often prominent figures in forums like 8kun—have directed their followers to harass and threaten individuals accused of being part of imaginary cabals. These leaders explicitly encourage swarming, doxxing, and even real-world violence, as seen in cases like Pizzagate.

   • JikkyLeaks: Known for targeting scientists and public health advocates, JikkyLeaks orchestrates harassment campaigns by using what I call the three D’s: posting defamatory false accusations, doxxing his targets, then expressing desire for them to suffer criminal, legal or other unspecified consequences. His followers soon follow suit either mass-report social media profiles, or inundating the target with insults and threats. By way of example, here are examples of those 3 steps aimed at me in response to this article:

   

   D1: Riling up his soldiers with defamatory false accusations

   

   D2. Doxxing his target in co-operation with his anonymous soldiers

   

   D3: Expressing his desire for consequences

   Anonymous generals thrive on the protection of anonymity, emboldening their followers to escalate harassment without fear of consequences. They often foster loyalty and camaraderie within private forums or unmoderated spaces, turning harassment into a competitive group activity.

With their often disagreeable personalities, rival troll generals frequently spar for influence, but these petty power struggles rarely matter. Troll soldiers want clear targeting signals—when one general falls, another quickly steps into the vacuum to direct the pack's hostility. All the group needs is someone willing to sound the howl.

Case Studies: How Wolf Packs Destroy Lives

Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist and prominent advocate for public health, became the target of an ideology-driven wolf pack fuelled by anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. The anti-vaccine movement, rooted in shared grievances and misinformation, frames its harassment campaigns as acts of moral righteousness, "defending children" against perceived harm. Hotez’s outspoken advocacy for vaccines made him an inevitable target.

What Happened:
After publicly countering vaccine misinformation, Hotez was inundated with a coordinated wave of abuse. Harassers accused him of being a "Big Pharma shill," manufactured doctored images portraying him as evil, and spread baseless claims that he was complicit in harming children. The attacks included mass harassment on social media, email spam campaigns, and even direct threats to his safety. The wolf pack didn’t stop there - they targeted his home and family, creating fear and pressure on his closest relationships.

Despite this relentless harassment, Hotez has continued his work, co-developing and releasing patent-free vaccines like Corbevax to ensure equitable access in poorer nations. His commitment to public health, even in the face of extreme hostility, exemplifies resilience and dedication to science and humanity.

What It Shows:
Hotez’s case illustrates how ideology-driven wolf packs operate. These groups weaponize their grievances and conspiracy theories, justifying harassment as a form of justice. Tactics like firehosing misinformation and targeting allies are designed to isolate and silence their victims. The relentless nature of the campaign demonstrates how these wolf packs aim to suppress public discourse by intimidating experts and advocates into withdrawing from conversations entirely.

Chloe Sagal: Kiwi Farms and Sadism as Entertainment

Kiwi Farms represents the extreme end of wolf pack behaviour: sadism-driven harassment where cruelty itself is the goal. As an infamous forum for online harassment, Kiwi Farms members select vulnerable targets and treat their suffering as a source of entertainment. Harassment campaigns are communal, with members competing to provoke the most devastating reactions.

What Happened:
One of Kiwi Farms’ most well-known targets was Chloe Sagal, a videogame developer and trans woman who had publicly shared her struggles with mental health. Forum members launched a relentless campaign of abuse, mocking her past suicide attempts, spreading false and defamatory narratives about her life, and bombarding her with hateful messages. The harassment was designed to break her emotionally and socially. Tragically, in 2018, Sagal died by suicide after enduring years of torment. Kiwi Farms members celebrated her death as a success, treating it as a victory in their campaign of cruelty.

What It Shows:
Kiwi Farms exemplifies sadism-driven wolf packs, where harassment isn’t framed as a moral crusade but as entertainment. Members focus on provoking extreme emotional damage, measuring their success by how much harm they can cause. Using tactics like doxxing, firehosing disinformation, and communal harassment, these wolf packs thrive on their targets’ pain, often escalating until the consequences are fatal.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

The attacks on Peter Hotez and the campaigns led by Kiwi Farms show the two primary motivations behind wolf packs: ideology and sadism. Ideology-driven packs like those targeting Hotez justify their actions through moral outrage, while sadism-driven packs like Kiwi Farms abandon pretence and seek harm for its own sake.

Despite these differences, their tactics are alarmingly similar: overwhelm the target, isolate them from their allies, and escalate harassment until the victim is silenced or broken. These examples reveal the severe human cost of wolf packs and underscore the urgent need to understand and resist their tactics.

Resisting Wolf Packs: Flipping the Script

Wolf packs weaponize shame, isolation, and silencing to devastate their targets. Counter packs flip this script. By replacing shame with empathy, isolation with connection, and silencing with solidarity, they neutralize the psychological weapons of harassment and turn cruelty into resilience.

Two Counter packs show how humour, solidarity, and visible support can disarm wolf packs and empower their targets.

NAFO: Disarming Trolls Through Humour

The North Atlantic Fella Organization emerged to counter Russian disinformation during the Ukraine conflict. Pro-Russian trolls swarmed social media, spreading propaganda and harassing dissenters. NAFO responded with memes and absurd humour, transforming the trolls’ aggression into a running joke.

We have especial focus on your pronouncing nonsense. What air defence doing?

What began as a grass-roots effort quickly gained recognition for its impact. By mocking the Vatniks instead of engaging seriously, NAFO denied them the emotional impact they sought and disrupted their narratives. Beyond humour, the group’s solidarity reassured victims, showing they weren’t facing harassment alone. NAFO’s efforts not only undermined the credibility of trolls but also disrupted the spread of Russian disinformation, earning praise as a credible force against online propaganda. Their initiatives have also extended to raising significant funds for the Ukrainian military, directly contributing to the Ukrainian people’s defence.

Mutton Crew (🗿): Turning Conspiracy into Camaraderie

The Mutton Crew began as a group of independent pro-vaccine advocates rallying around UK immunologist Graham Bottley (@SwaledaleMutton). When anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists latched onto the real existence of the UK’s 77th Brigade—a military unit specializing in information operations—and absurdly decided Bottley ‘must’ be its leader, the group leaned into the farce and ‘played along’ rather than denying it, in a form of conversational Aikido.

In a further Monty Python-esque twist, one member added the 🗿 Easter Island head emoji to her bio as a joke, and others followed suit. Anti-vaccine activists, mistaking the emoji for proof of the secret cabal, fuelled the conspiracy further—and the Crew embraced the absurdity, adopting the 🗿 emoji as a unifying symbol.

This satirical defiance mocked anti-vaxxers’ paranoia while uniting science advocates under a shared identity. The Mutton Crew’s approach is reminiscent of ARSCC, the fictitious alt.religion.scientology Controlling Committee (which does not exist), formed by internet critics of the Church of Scientology in the 1990s to mock and subvert Scientologists’ paranoia and their attempts at online censorship. The 🗿 emoji now serves as a symbol of solidarity, with the Mutton Crew supporting harassment targets and amplifying pro-vaccine voices.

Empathy, Connection, and Solidarity

Counter Packs succeed because they dismantle wolf packs’ psychological weapons:

• Empathy replaces shame. Public support restores victims’ sense of worth.

• Connection replaces isolation. Shared identities and visible solidarity break the isolation harassment creates.

• Solidarity replaces silencing. Counter-packs amplify targets’ voices, ensuring they aren’t erased by abuse.

NAFO and the Mutton Crew prove that harassment doesn’t have to be faced alone. By transforming cruelty into connection and fear into humorous defiance, Counter packs disarm Wolf packs and protect those under attack.

Conclusion: From Hateful Repression to Humorous Resistance

Wolf packs leave devastation in their wake, using cruelty and isolation to overwhelm their targets and dismantle their support networks. These attacks are not random; they are deliberate psychological assaults, exploiting shame, isolation, and silencing to break victims emotionally and socially. Whether driven by ideology or sadism, wolf packs escalate harm through group dynamics, conformity, and moral disengagement.

Understanding how wolf packs form, operate, and weaponize cruelty is essential to resisting their influence. Counter packs like NAFO and the Mutton Crew prove that even in the face of coordinated harassment, solidarity and humour can turn the tide. By fostering connection, amplifying voices, and flipping the narrative, these groups transform cruelty into camaraderie and fear into defiance. They remind us that no one has to face harassment alone—and that resilience and collective action can challenge even the most relentless attacks.

But what happens when humour itself becomes a weapon? In the next article, we explore how comedy can normalize prejudice and persecution, turning jokes into tools of harm. From satire to sadism, we’ll examine the line between humour that challenges and humour that oppresses.