Inside a 'hormonal group': how TikTok is used to lure minors into WhatsApp groups for sexual content

Among the material shared in the five groups, some was original content from participants (several of whom appeared to be minors) and some had been shared by third parties without apparent authorization from those featured in it (videos and images forwarded from other chats, screenshots from social media, etc.). One of the administrators claimed to be an adult and acknowledged being aware that there were minors in the group. TikTok thus becomes a place to recruit underage boys and girls and bring them to other platforms to share intimate content, relinquishing control over it and exposing themselves to non-consensual distribution, grooming, sextortion, and other risks.

TikTok videos of hormonal groups compiled by Maldita.es

From 1.2 [12 years old] and up': the explicit targeting of minors in 'hormonal groups' 

These TikTok profiles explicitly target underage boys and girls through messages like 'no age limits' or 'it doesn't matter if they are a minor or an adult.' They also use codes and seemingly ambiguous language, with messages such as 'we need guys and girls 1/3 to 1/8 [13 to 18 years old],' or 'looking for friends aged 1.2 [12 years old] and up.' As the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) explains, 'this type of expression may reflect attempts to evade automated moderation systems.'

These age references appear frequently in video comments. But sometimes the intention is even more explicit and can be found in profile bios. This is the case of an account created in 2024, which remains active at the time of publication where it explicitly states that the group is aimed at minors between '14 and 17 years old'.

By entering five 'hormonal groups', we confirmed that there are no barriers to entry for minors in these types of groups, nor any form of age verification beyond self-declaration. This means these chats can be accessed by users younger than the stated minimum age, as well as adults seeking child pornography. The group descriptions themselves encourage the presence of minors, normalizing the participation of children and teenagers with phrases like 'minimum age 13, no maximum' or 'allowed age of 41 reversed [referring to 14] as the minimum age and 23 as the maximum age'. 

In these groups, minors participate actively, because if they don't 'contribute', they are kicked out. In the comments, there are teenagers who openly declare their age and their intention to join: 'I'm 14', 'I'm 15', 'under 14', or '12'.

From ironic videos to profile pictures with a QR code: what characterizes these accounts? 

The TikTok accounts that promote 'hormonal groups' do not typically use explicit sexual content in their posts. They use simple, repetitive, and low-effort videos, such as pixelated screen recordings of the string of messages on the groupchats or a static image with a QR code that allows access into the group. 

The comments are dominated by brief, often repetitive messages seeking to confirm access to the chat or requests for updated links,for example: 'me', 'anyone?', 'please accept me', and 'accept me'. There are also comments referencing other trends we have already analyzed on TikTok that are linked to the distribution of sexual content involving minors, particularly users asking to have photos of their genitals 'rated'. This suggests that these are not isolated phenomena, but interconnected patterns of behavior. 

The comments on these videos also promote other 'hormonal groups', acting as a kind of 'bulletin board'. 'Join mine if you want, link in bio', 'hormonal group here, everyone welcome', or an image with a QR code or the group's URL: the ecosystem of these groups on TikTok is far broader and more active than it appears at first glance. 

TikTok as a storefront: how the social network funnels users into hormonal groups on encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram 

Although WhatsApp is the most commonly mentioned app among accounts offering access to 'hormonal groups', the ecosystem of platforms involved is broader and more diverse: groups on Telegram, Discord, Zangi, Signal, and Instagram are also mentioned. Groups can be accessed through different means: QR codes; direct links to the group (usually shared in the bio or in the comments); or through direct messages to the profile promoting the group.

Once on these encrypted platforms, most of these groups establish 'access rules': the administrator must accept the request, and users are then required to introduce themselves with a photo of their face, age, and country, and in some cases also their gender and name. They also warn that those who do not send content will be removed, with phrases like 'inactive members or those who don't speak for at least three days will be expelled' and 'everyone must make at least two contributions a day'. 

Inside a 'hormonal group': 'There are minors and us bastards who are twice their age'

At Maldita.es we were able to enter five WhatsApp 'hormonal groups' and can confirm that sexually explicit material is being shared. For example, we found a chat created on April 10, 2026, made up of more than 13 members as of April 17, with the majority of participants having phone numbers with Latin American country codes. In a single day, at least six new people joined the chat. Upon entering the group, you are asked to introduce yourself with a photo of your face, name, age, and country, as stated in the group description. A user then shares some 'fresh contributions' consisting of three sexual videos in which the individuals featured cannot be identified, nor can their age be apparent.

We spoke with the 22-year-old administrator of one of the groups, who claims that members' ages range from 'around 15 and up' and also that 'there are minors and us bastards that are twice their age'. He adds that the chat is used to share 'hot stuff… showing… sharing, sex talk' (sic.) and also mentions another Telegram group where he shares 'nopor', referring to porn.

In another 'hormonal group' that has been running since 2025, under the name 'Sociedad X.X.X', (XXX Society) there are as of April 2026 more than 38 members, with 95% of participants having phone numbers with non-Spanish country codes. Specifically, more than half of the phone numbers have a Mexican prefix. 'Share some porn' (sic.) is the first message we see upon entering the chat, followed by three users sharing sexually explicit content featuring women. In fact, one of these members shares an Instagram screenshot of a video posted by a user in their 'close friends' stories, suggesting that this content was shared on WhatsApp without her consent. This is not the only time we have seen this type of behavior: other users claim that the photos they share are not their own, and we also found images forwarded from other chats featuring naked girls. 

In these types of groups it is also common for participants to share view-once content (photos and videos that disappear after the recipient opens them) of a sexual nature. For example, in two of the groups we entered, called 'Crazy hot' and 'Proyecto X.X.X', (XXX Proyect) we found several disappearing images of girls in underwear, boys kissing, as well as photos of male genitalia. In one of these groups, a female user sent a voice message reporting that one of the participants had screen recorded one of the view-once videos she had sent him and was threatening to share it unless she sent him more intimate images. A practice known as sextortion — the blackmailing of someone using intimate content to coerce them into doing something. 

On top of this, several members of the groups we analyzed sent us private messages asking us to be 'hormonal friends', sending us sexually explicit videos and asking us to show them our breasts.

In this way, a path that begins on TikTok, leads minors to share intimate images on these encrypted platforms. This happens despite the fact that the social network claims to prohibit content that ‘content that leads or encourages young people to move off-platform due to the risk that the request could be made by a bad actor '. At Maldita.es we have reported 40 videos that encourage minors to make contact outside of the social network: TikTok has only taken action on 12 of the videos (30%), with eleven being removed and one restricted. 

According to experts end-to-end encryption is the reason users prefer WhatsApp and these other platforms to host 'hormonal groups'

Why do users prefer WhatsApp? Javier Sanz, a criminologist specializing in cybercrime and behavioral analysis in cyberspace explains that 'hormonal groups are, by the platform's own design, invisible to moderation unless the victim reports them.' He attributes this to the app's default end-to-end encryption, which means that 'neither Meta nor anyone else can read the content of the messages.' A similar case occurs on other encrypted platforms such as Telegram or Signal.

Along these lines, digital law expert Borja Adsuara notes that encrypted messaging platforms 'are not obliged to monitor users' conversations,' but states that 'if a report exists and they have actual knowledge of the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), they must report it to the police and cooperate with them.' According to Sanz, what WhatsApp does moderate is 'everything that falls outside of encryption': names, profile photos and group descriptions, bulk sending metadata, spam patterns, and user reports. 'The content exchanged within the group (images, videos, etc.) is not inspected in real time,' Sanz clarifies.

Meta, the owner of WhatsApp, told Maldita.es that its platform enforces a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual exploitation. They claim that hundreds of thousands of accounts suspected of sharing CSAM are blocked every month, . According to them, users can report groups directly from the app if they are part of it. Once that report is filed with WhatsApp, the platform receives the group’s last five messages for review and if necessary, takes measures such as blocking accounts and suspending groups.

However, at Maldita.es we found that many of these 'hormonal groups' openly display, in their photos, names, and descriptions, the type of content they share. For example, we found two groups created in February 2026 whose profile pictures show parts of a woman's body in underwear, accompanied by group names like 'Everything is allowed' or 'Horny girls'. We also detected a channel from November 2025 that states in its description that 'sending intimate photo alerts is permitted'.

Javier Sanz, criminologist specializing in cybercrime and behavioral analysis in cyberspace, contributed his expertise to this article.

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