Thread by @bellingcat

Literally just as we were publishing this piece today on Russian and Ukrainian translation of the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto, news came out that he had sent a letter from prison to a fan — who promptly published it on 4chan.
bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-eu…

As @AP reported, the letter was addressed to “Alan,” a fan of the shooter’s apparently in Russia. The letter warned of coming conflict and, as AP worded it, “uses language that could be construed as a call to arms.”
apnews.com/6aede98cae6e45…

@AP After our @BcatMonitoring article on the translations was published, the Ukrainian-language Telegram channel that we discuss in the article shared a photo of the letter apparently sent to Russia.

But that wasn’t the only news that broke as we about to hit publish. As we were able to briefly note in the article, Ukrainian neo-Nazi group Karpatska Sich openly encouraged its followers, in a Telegram post, to buy the Ukrainian translation of the manifesto.

Meanwhile the promoters of the Russian translation, Wotanjugend, have been busy. In July, the group hosted a two-day seminar where they gave lectures on “racial theory,” delivered firearms training and (yes) hosted a knife-fight tournament.

Groups like these are openly sharing and promoting the manifesto and ideology of a far-right murderer, who continues to inspire new acts of terror. Why are they, whether in Ukraine or elsewhere, allowed to do this? Why does Telegram allow itself to be the social network of hate?