Australian members of Terrorgram white supremacist network face 25 years jail
Australians who join, recruit or fund a white supremacist network that has told its members how to attack politicians and minority groups, will face up to 25 years in prison after the Albanese government listed Terrorgram as a terrorist organisation.
The online network, which seeks to incite a race war, will become the fourth white supremacist group to be listed as a terrorist organisation and the first given that designation by the Albanese government.
The group largely functions on the Russian-founded social media site Telegram and aims to inspire lone-wolf actors to attack people such as politicians and abortion activists, and shared documents on how to make bombs.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the listing would give national security agencies the power to restrict Terrorgram's operations and stop it from promoting violent nationalism and racist extremism.
'Online radicalisation is a growing threat, but the government has tools at its disposal and we will use every one of them to keep Australians safe,' Burke said.
'This group fosters and promotes an ideology that would seek to make some Australians feel unwelcome in their home. It is this extremist hatred which is not welcome and has no place in Australia.'
Telegram has previously shut down Terrorgram channels, but the decentralised group continues to pop up and at its peak had 50 channels with hundreds of members, with other communication channels operating underground.
Lone-wolf attackers have referred to Terrorgram in their manifestos, including one written by a 19-year-old who shot dead two men and himself outside a Slovakian LGBTQ bar in October 2022.
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