Terrorgram added to list of proscribed terrorist organisations

If agreed by Parliament, the Proscription Order will come into effect on 26 April. This means that it will be a criminal offence to belong to, invite support for or, in certain circumstances, display articles associated with the network. Certain proscription offences can be punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.  

Home Secretary James Cleverly stated: “The Terrorgram collective spreads vile propaganda and aims to radicalise young people to conduct heinous terrorist acts. This is precisely why we are outlawing membership or support for the group. We will not tolerate the promotion or encouragement of terrorism in the United Kingdom.”

Cleverly added: “Terrorgram will become the first online terrorist network to be proscribed, alongside 80 other extreme right-wing and Islamist organisations, as we continue to disrupt and outlaw terrorist groups to protect the British people.”

Online radicalisation

The UK is the first country to proscribe this organisation, in turn demonstrating the Government’s commitment to tackle extreme right-wing terrorism and online radicalisation in all forms. It also showcases the ability of the proscription tool to be applied to an online terrorist network and, indeed, is the first time it has been used in this way.

Following an internal review, the term ‘Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism’ was adopted as the umbrella term to make it clear that those who hold mainstream right-wing views will not be in scope of any action by counter-terrorism authorities.

The Terrorgram collective glorify attacks committed by neo-fascist terrorists, who they consider to be ‘saints’, and encourages replication of such heinous attacks including by disseminating instructional material to help others prepare to commit acts of terrorism.  

In addition to the proscription offences, several other Terrorism Act 2000 offences continue to apply to terrorist offending online. For example, Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 makes it a criminal offence for a person to collect or possess information, or to view it online, which is likely to be useful to an individual committing or preparing for acts of terrorism.

The Terrorgram collective is the sixth extreme right-wing group to be proscribed, standing alongside 75 groups proscribed for extreme Islamist or other ideologies and 14 Northern Ireland-related groups. It also subscribes to militant accelerationist and neo-fascist ideologies, notably pursuing the collapse of the Western world and a ‘Race War’ through violent acts of terrorism, and often seeks to target young individuals to adopt its ideology.

Propaganda material

Terrorgram has previously published propaganda material designed to incite violence against ethnic and religious communities, with calls for anti-semitic violence. The propaganda also contains violent narratives that glorified the perpetrator of the 2022 Slovakia attack on a nightclub shooting, which resulted in the deaths of two people.

While Islamist-inspired terrorism continues to represent the greatest terrorist threat posed to UK interests, the threat from extreme right-wing terrorism is growing and evolving, particularly so through the radicalisation of increasingly younger individuals due to dangerous online content.

Proscription grants Counter Terrorism Policing the power to compel tech companies and social media platforms to remove or block the organisation’s online content for UK users, which will now be illegal.

Under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006, it’s illegal to disseminate terrorist publications including circulating, selling or transmitting a terrorist publication online.

Most vulnerable

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat observed: “The Terrorgram collective is a dangerous neo-fascist organisation that actively encourages and promotes terrorist activity. We must do everything in our power to deter and limit the reach of hateful and terrorist ideologies, and also to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Proscribing the Terrorgram collective will do just that.”

The government will always use the breadth of tools available to tackle online terrorist content. The Home Office works closely with tech companies to ensure they uphold their legal obligations in respect of the need for removing illegal terrorist content.

The Terrorgram collective will become the 81st group to be proscribed by the UK, with those already proscribed including ISIS, National Action, Wagner Group and Hizb ut-Tahrir.