Logo of Terrorgram, which is a combination of the Telegram app logo and Waffen-SS insignia[1]
Terrorgram (sometimes stylised in all caps)[2] refers to a decentralized network[1] of Telegram channels and accounts that subscribe to or promote militant accelerationism. Terrorgram channels are neo-fascist in ideology, and regularly share instructions and manuals on how to carry out acts of racially-motivated violence[clarification needed] and anti-government terrorism. Terrorgram is a key communications forum for individuals and networks attached to Atomwaffen Division, The Base, and other explicit militant accelerationist groups.[3]
In 2021, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an international think-tank, exposed more than 200 neo-Nazi pro-terrorism Telegram channels that make up the Terrorgram network, many of which contained instructions for building weapons and bombs.[2][4][5] Telegram shadowbans channels promoting violence, but according to Southern Poverty Law Center such channels grew exponentially despite of Telegram's policing, one accelerationist channel boasting 16,552 followers.[6] In September 2024, the United States announced charges against the two alleged leaders of the network.[7]
Origins
A major influence on Terrorgram was the neo-Nazi web forum Iron March, linked to both the proscribed UK-based group National Action, and the US-founded Atomwaffen Division according to the Combating Terrorism Center.[8] Despite having little over 1,200 users when it shut down in November 2017, Iron March, as a forum, has had an outsized influence on modern neo-Nazism. It popularised the book Siege by American neo-Nazi James Mason, a work promoting the establishment of underground, leaderless terrorist cells, working towards destabilising society and ushering in revolution. Iron March was also key in the development of the “terrorwave” aesthetic, a distinctive form of visual propaganda that communicates a message of terrorist violence. Rendered in red, white and black, the style often incorporates images of historical fascists, terrorists or paramilitaries wearing skull masks, with esoteric far-right symbols and simplistic slogans, such as "TRAITORS WILL HANG" and "RAPE THE POLICE". There is also a strong strain of esotericism and occultism woven into Terrorgram propaganda, lending a mystic sheen to the movement. Esoteric Hitlerism is frequently referenced.[9][10]
The Global Network on Extremism and Technology refers to Terrorgram and the broader ecosystem that it belongs to as "a 'dark fandom' that venerates and valorizes extreme-right terrorists as 'saints' and 'martyrs' in a manner similar to the heroization of school shooters and serial killers".[3] In the event of an accelerationist, supremacist or neo-Nazi attack, Terrorgram sees the members of the collective engaged in the search for signs attesting to the ideological closeness in order to sanctify the attacker. The sanctification of a terrorist leads to their entry into the pantheon of terrorist-saints that are taken as models by Terrorgram. Among these, some can be identified who can be considered as founders of the ideological core, so-called founding saints: Brenton Tarrant, Theodore Kaczynski, Anders Breivik, Timothy McVeigh, Charles Manson and Dylann Roof.[2] The five criteria required to become a saint include being of white race, conducting a deliberate attack, having motive to kill those who "threaten the white race," a "score" of killing at least one, and sharing the ideology of white supremacy.[11][12][13][14]
Publications
Following the ideological standard of Siege and The Turner Diaries, detailed instructions for attacking critical infrastructure are found in white supremacist manuals and propaganda distributed over Terrorgram channels. Terrorgram issued the third instalment of a digital magazine series called Hard Reset which glorifies white supremacist attacks and gives explanations for sector-specific critical infrastructure targeting.[15]
In June 2021, the collective published a guide online with incitements for attacks on infrastructure and violence against minorities, police, public figures, journalists and other perceived enemies. In December 2021, they published a second document containing ideological sections on accelerationism, white supremacy, and ecofascism, together with practical instructions.[16][17][11]
A 24-minute video titled White Terror, made by Terrorgram, was originally released on 14 October 2022. It celebrates dozens of individuals who committed acts of violence and terrorism from 1968 to the present against the government, police officers, women, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ people, leftists, journalists, and medical professionals. In addition to praising the perpetrators and referring to them as "saints," the video encourages further acts of terrorism, stating that future attacks will be honored. The video contains footage taken from the 2019 Christchurch shooting and 2022 Buffalo attack videos in addition to news clips.[18]
In March 2023, Dallas Erin Humber was found to be the narrator of the Terrorgram videos.[19]
In 28 December 2023, Terrorgram published a manual for the improvised manufacture of explosives using breastmilk.[20]
Reaction
The United Kingdom has added Terrorgram collective to the list of proscribed organizations.[21][22] Home Secretary James Cleverly stated that "The Terrorgram collective spreads vile propaganda and aims to radicalise young people to conduct heinous terrorist acts".[23]
On 8 December 2023, two Ontario men were charged with making propaganda for Terrorgram and for terrorism offenses.[24] On September 9, 2024 US prosecutors in California charged Dallas Erin Humber, 34, and Matthew Robert Allison, 37, accused of leading the "Terrorgram" network with soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of Federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. If convicted Humber and Allison each face a maximum penalty of 220 years in prison.[25] New Jersey man Andrew Takhistov is charged with plotting an attack on energy infrastructure and a synagogue. Takhistov stated that he was involved in the production of Terrorgram propaganda.[26]
^ abc"TERRORGRAM: from Buffalo to Bratislava". Italian Team for Security, Terroristic Issues & Managing Emergencies. 23 November 2022. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^"Terrorgram, a network of neo-Nazi channels, is spreading across Brazil". Nucleo. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 11 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024. These radical and extremist propagandas from Terrorgram have real-world effects. In 2022, a 16-year-old Brazilian teenager killed four people in a school attack in Aracruz, Espírito Santo. It was discovered that the teenager had been radicalized through Telegram channels connected to the collective.
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