FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate how an online network known as the Terrorgram Collective grew and operated and what its rise and fall tell us about the evolution of far-right extremism on loosely-moderated tech platforms.
“The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram” traces how various loosely-moderated platforms, from 4chan to 8chan to eventually Telegram, have become havens for extremist ideas and for radicalization. The investigation shows how a number of attackers around the world — from Slovakia to New Zealand to the United States — used these various platforms and were encouraged by them.
“Drawing on a trove of archived posts, our reporting shows how Telegram and other lightly regulated platforms became a gathering place for ‘militant accelerationists’ — neo-Nazis who want to use terror and violence to bring down governments and create new, white ethnostates,” says A.C. Thompson, who has been reporting on the evolution of violent extremism in the U.S. for years.
The film also probes how authorities in several countries would eventually arrest around a dozen people allegedly tied to the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational virtual network of extremists accused of inciting acts of white supremacist terrorism. The U.S. government would charge two Americans with a slew of felonies, including soliciting the murder of government officials on Telegram. Telegram says it has always screened postings for problematic content and that, “Calls for violence from any group are not tolerated on our platform.”
“The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram” is a FRONTLINE production with 2over10 Media in association with ProPublica.
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