Neo-Nazi group sanctioned in bid to block antisemitism

February 3, 2025 by AAP
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Stopping radicalisation and curbing antisemitism and hate have led to counter-terrorism sanctions on a neo-Nazi group that promotes racial violence.

Counter-terrorism sanctions against a neo-Nazi and white supremacist group are in place to tackle rising antisemitism and help curb radicalisation.

Terrorgram is an online network that promised racially motivated violence, the federal government said.

Its channels share fascist content and details on how members can carry out racially-motivated violence including against minority groups, police, public figures, politicians and journalists.

The sanctions make it a criminal offence to use or deal with assets, or provide assets, to Terrorgram under the threat of up to 10 years in prison and heavy fines.

“We have to use all the tools of government to prevent the rise of extremism, to confront anti-Semitism and to confront hate in all its forms, and we are doing that,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

“These are all important matters. We all have to work together because fundamentally this goes to who we are as Australians.”

While there were Australians on the platform, it was difficult to determine the location of all users, Senator Wong said.

“This is about making it more difficult for the extremist groups to operate … a part of that is because we don’t want our young people to be radicalised,” she said.

It is the first time Australia has imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on an entirely online entity, Senator Wong said.

Debate on strengthened hate speech laws will continue in federal parliament in this week, with the opposition pushing for mandatory minimum prison sentences for terror offences.

It follows a spate of antisemitic attacks including the targeting of synagogues and the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives in Sydney’s northwest with a note containing addresses of Jewish institutions.

The explosives had the capacity to cause a 40-metre radius blast, but no detonator was found.

Senator Wong didn’t comment on whether the group was linked to any incidents in Australia, saying she wouldn’t discuss operational matters.

On the weekend, eggs were hurled at five young women near Sydney’s Bondi beach, and cars and buildings were spray-painted with antisemitic slogans.

It’s alleged the women were targeted by three young men in a silver Mazda that crashed onto a kerb with the engine running on Saturday night. The car contained a carton of eggs and an empty jerrycan.

Strikeforce Pearl commander Detective Superintendent Darren Newman said investigators were treating the matter as an antisemitic incident noting that the young women’s clothing possibly made them targets.

On Monday, in a separate incident, NSW Police said they had charged a 21-year-old male with intimidation offences after a woman reported antisemitic abuse by a man in the yard of a private premises in Bondi. He was refused bail to appear in Newtown Local Court.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister also re-listed sanctions for the National Socialist Order, the Russian Imperial Movement, the Sonnenkrieg Division and The Base for promoting nationalist and racist violent extremist ideologies.

“This demonstrates the Albanese government’s commitment to disrupting the activities of terrorists and violent extremists and preventing them from recruiting and radicalising people online,” Senator Wong said.

“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism, hatred or violence.”

The secretary-general and leading spokesperson for the designated terrorist group Hezbollah have also been sanctioned.

By: Dominic Giannini/AAP

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