Australia hits right-wing online network Terrorgram with sanctions
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Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government’s move would make it a criminal offence to engage with Terrorgram.
PHOTO: AFP
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SYDNEY - Australia on Feb 3 imposed sanctions on extreme right-wing online network Terrorgram as part of its efforts to combat a rise in anti-Semitism and online extremism, after similar moves by Britain and the US.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government’s move would make it a criminal offence to engage with Terrorgram, and it would also help prevent children from becoming caught up in far-right extremism.
“Terrorgram is an online network that promotes white supremacy and racially motivated violence,” she said in a statement.
“It is the first time any Australian government has imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on an entity based entirely online.”
Offenders will face up to 10 years in jail and heavy fines, she said.
The Australian government has also re-listed and hit other right-wing groups with sanctions.
They include the National Socialist Order, the Russian Imperial Movement, Sonnenkrieg Division and The Base, for counter-terrorism financing sanctions, Ms Wong said.
Former US president Joe Biden’s administration in January designated Terrorgram, which primarily operates on the Telegram social media site, as a terrorist group, accusing it of promoting violent white supremacy.
Last April, Britain made it a criminal offence in the country to belong to, or promote, the group.
In a statement, Telegram said calls to violence have no place on its platform.
“Moderators removed several channels that used variations of the ‘Terrorgram’ name when they were discovered years ago. Similar content is banned whenever it appears,” it said.
Australian police arrested members of a neo-Nazi group in the South Australian city of Adelaide last week when the country marked its National Day, and charged a man over displaying a Nazi symbol.
Australia has seen an escalating series of attacks on synagogues
