By Margaret Davis, PA Crime Correspondent
Extreme right-wing online terrorist group Terrorgram is set to be banned in the UK.
Britain will be the first country to ban the group if the plan is approved on Friday, and it will be the first time that an online terror network has been proscribed in the UK.
The move would mean that support for the group would be illegal with punishments of up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine.
A draft proscription order was laid in Parliament on Monday and will come into effect on Friday if it is agreed by MPs.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “The Terrorgram collective spreads vile propaganda and aims to radicalise young people to conduct heinous terrorist acts.
“This is why we are outlawing membership or support for the group – we will not tolerate the promotion or encouragement of terrorism in the United Kingdom.
“It 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.”
Terrorgram will become the sixth extreme right wing terrorist group to be banned in the UK, on the list of 81 banned organisations.
It has published propaganda designed to incite followers to commit violence, and was credited by an attacker who killed two people in an LGBTQ+ nightclub shooting in Slovakia in 2022, the Home Office said.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat said: “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 to protect the most vulnerable in our society.”
