Unveiling the Ascent and Collapse of Terrorgram: An Expose on a Global Online Network that Promotes Hate
In the digital realm, tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft have a degree of control over the content their users see, as they distribute apps such as Telegram. This platform, a social media and messaging service, became a breeding ground for a dangerous online network known as Terrorgram.
Led by Dallas Humber, a US-born white supremacist, Terrorgram used Telegram to promote their ideology and recruit new members. Two key figures in this collective, Pavol Benčadik and Matthew Althorpe, openly posted content with the aim of inspiring acts of white supremacist terrorism.
Telegram's lack of content moderation played a significant role in the spread of Terrorgram's violent content. When accounts were taken down, they would often quickly reappear, sometimes with near-identical names. This continuous presence allowed the network to grow, reaching nearly 20 chat groups and channels by August 2019, with one of the most popular channels attracting nearly 5,000 subscribers.
One of the network's regulars was Jarrett Smith, a US Army private who was later arrested and pleaded guilty to sharing instructions for making bombs and homemade napalm. Terrorgram's goal was to topple modern democracies through terrorism and sabotage and replace them with all-white ethno-states.
As the Terrorgram community attracted more attention from the outside world, including extremism researchers and law enforcement, these tech giants began restricting certain Terrorgram chats and channels, making them impossible to view. However, this was often met with resentment from the Terrorgrammers, who saw these measures as a betrayal by Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov.
The network is linked to 35 crimes, including bomb plots, stabbings, and shootings. One of the most notable crimes was a 2022 shooting at an LGBTQ+ bar in Bratislava, Slovakia, that left two people dead and another injured. The shooter was coached by members of the Terrorgram Collective for over three years.
Dallas Humber and her network, including Benčadik and Althorpe, saw mass shootings like the one in New Zealand as templates for future attacks. They celebrated mass shooters like Palmeter as "saints," and Benčadik and Althorpe even dubbed the perpetrator a "saint" and encouraged their subscribers to follow his example and become the next saint.
As the events unfolded, the manifesto left by Ryan Palmeter, a 21-year-old white man who committed a mass shooting at a Dollar General store, was released by the sheriff of Jacksonville, Florida, to maintain transparency. The manifesto, which used the N-word 183 times and had an overall theme of white superiority, was widely criticised for its lack of redeemable thoughts.
The rise of Terrorgram on Telegram highlights the challenges of content moderation in the digital age. As right-wing extremists are increasingly exiled from major social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, they are flocking to platforms like Telegram, where content moderation is less strict. This trend underscores the need for continued vigilance and effective strategies to combat online extremism and prevent the spread of hate speech and violence.
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