Bangkok, Feb 3 (EFE).- Australia on Monday imposed counter-terror sanctions on far-right online network Terrorgram in efforts to combat antisemitism and digital extremism.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong described Terrorgram as promoting white supremacy and racially-motivated violence.
“It is now a criminal offense to use or deal with the assets of, or make assets available to, Terrorgram,” Wong said in a statement.
Anyone who violates the measure faces heavy fines and/or sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
The measure is part of Canberra’s efforts to combat the increase in antisemitic hate crimes and the spread of far-right ideology through the internet, and follows similar measures by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom.
“It is the first time any Australian government has imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on an entity based entirely online,” Wong said.
Australia also announced Monday that it has included four other entities that promote nationalist and racist violent extremist ideologies on the counter-terrorism financing sanctions list: National Socialist Order, the Russian Imperial Movement, Sonnenkrieg Division and The Base.
“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism, hatred or violence,” Wong added.
In early 2024, Australia criminalized the Nazi salute in public nationwide, as well as those who display or sell Nazi symbols such as flags or insignia of the Third Reich or glorify terrorist acts and supremacist hatred, with prison sentences of up to 12 months.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, the Government has noted that acts against the Jewish community in Australia, which represents 0.4 percent of the population of more than 26 million residents, have increased.
Most acts have involved graffiti vandalism, but there have also been attacks.
In early December an arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne injured two people and damaged the building, prompting authorities who investigate the incident as a possible act of terror. EFE
nc/tw
