On June 5, a car full of white supremacists drove through the streets of Knoxville, Tennessee, harassing and abusing people participating in a Black Lives Matter protest. The car’s occupants recorded numerous videos — videos that were later uploaded to the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
One of the groups/communication channels they used was The Fascist Group Esoteric Anti Root Collective – one of many Telegram Groups that support white supremacists and have become very active amid protests in the United States, CNN reports.
These groups have thousands of members, according to a new report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). ISD, a London-based think tank that studies extremism, says they include frequent and explicit threats of violence against minority communities and BLM protesters — threats that in some cases have translated into violence.
In May, the white supremacist group Rise Above Movement launched its own Telegram channel, which, according to the Countering Extremism Project, deals with issues of anti-Semitism and anti-immigration.
White supremacists have flocked to Telegram because the platform is less censorious about content than other social media networks, the ISD and other researchers. Groups share everything from how-to guides on how to build 3D weapons to praise for mass murderers.
A Telegram spokesperson told CNN: "Telegram is a neutral platform used by both Black Lives Matter and their opponents, as well as thousands of other political movements around the world. Our mission is to support privacy, free speech, and the peaceful exchange of ideas. Calls for violence are not welcome on our platform."
“Telegram allows users to report public discussions that incite violent acts. Our moderators regularly remove posts that violate our Terms of Use – and block channels that consist entirely of such posts,” the spokesperson continued.
“Users who experience verbally abusive incidents are encouraged to report them using the in-app report button or email abuse@telegram.org.”
ISD analyzed more than 1 million individual posts on Telegram across dozens of channels defending white supremacists. These groups, with names like “Only White Lives Matter” and “Hans's Right Wing Terror Center,” had an average of 1,773 members.
