Over the past two decades, massive social networks have emerged as a powerful force for both good and evil. The ability to connect with like-minded strangers helped fuel uprisings like the Arab Spring and Iran’s pro-democracy movements. But it has also aided extremists, including brutal jihadist organizations like the Islamic State group and white supremacists around the world.
In a joint project with FRONTLINE, we investigated how white supremacists from around the world turned a handful of accounts on Telegram into a community with hundreds of chats and channels focused on recruiting would-be terrorists, sharing grisly videos and spreading hateful content that promotes murder. They called it Terrorgram.
Last year, Telegram announced a slew of reforms designed to make the network safer. It promised to police illegal content on the platform and share the IP addresses and phone numbers of alleged lawbreakers with authorities.
Our investigation includes an upcoming documentary, “The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram,” which premieres tonight at 10 p.m. EDT/9 p.m. CDT on PBS stations (check local listings) and will be available to stream on YouTube, the PBS App and FRONTLINE’s website.
You can read more from the series, including:
