A sinister underworld of Scots neo-Nazi groups using an encrypted chat platform to recruit hateful racists to their cause has prompted calls for those involved to be 'rooted out' by owners of the app.
The Record can reveal a number of white supremacist syndicates are building followings on open-source app Telegram. Some refer to Adolf Hitler as a "war hero" and call themselves "white wolves" – while others use coded language to call for action against ethnic minorities.
Telegram, based in Dubai, allows anyone to create a news feed-style "channel" users can subscribe to. The app's unmoderated nature makes it the preferred communication tool of alt-right and extremist fringe groups.
A Daily Record investigation found Scots far-right groups including Highland Division and the Scottish branch of Patriotic Alternative operating within Telegram channels without interference. The bile-spouting thugs have gone underground after being banned from mainstream social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
One group, Highland Division, has shamelessly co-opted the identity of a former British Army division that fought the Nazis head-on during the Battle of Normandy in 1944. Yobs have shared images of themselves with the lightning bolt flag used by Oswald Moseley's British Union of Fascists and wearing racist "White Lives Matter" t-shirts.
Ominous campfire videos posted by one supporter calls on "white wolves" to rise up – adapting the name of British neo-Nazi group the White Wolves, which claimed responsibility for racially motivated bombings in London in 1999.
He warns that the group "won't stop", refers to Hitler as a "great war hero" and recommends reading the Fuhrer's hate-filled manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). The fascist then makes a sick joke about his campfire cooking, noting: "I didn't bring any salt or pepper...seasoning is for black people anyway."
He said: "Speaking on behalf of the white wolves of Highland Division, we want to get it clear – we won't stop. If anyone tries to discourage us, we won't listen."
He added: "There will be another white nationalist to fill my place if I die or I'm thrown in jail. Our ranks are endless, our men are infinite.
"A great war hero wrote a really good book, My Struggle, I recommend that one."
Another video shares images of black Scots followed by the caption: "That is not who Scots are. It's time to remember who we are."
Highland Division are also seen exploiting Remembrance Sunday as a recruitment tool. The group shared images of a "White Lives Matter" banner at a war memorial in South Lanarkshire less than an hour after wreaths had been laid.
The banner bore a message calling for an "end to Zionist wars" – an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, first spread by the Nazis, that blames Jewish people for the world's conflicts.
The Scottish branch of Patriotic Alternative also shared images of members holding a twisted Remembrance service in Glasgow brandishing a banner reading "no more brother wars", a coded reference to uniting white Europeans against other races.
One commenter said: "Well done lads. This is the future. Men in suits remembering our white brothers." Other posts made racially charged comments about Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion who have made their home in Scotland.
An insurgence of racist gatherings has been reported by the Record in recent weeks. Patriotic Alternative Scotland staged its first annual conference at Stirling Highland hotel in October. The group booked the venue under a guise before revealing their true identity in front of holidaymakers.
In November a Nazi sympathiser was found talking to pupils outside Larkhall Academy. Wearing a T-shirt with a sonnenrad symbol, the Holocaust denier declared his support for Hitler before he was chased by a mob of uniformed school children and later arrested.
Members of the Highland Division are shown branding the Record "anti-white media" over the coverage.
Anti-discrimination groups are concerned that hate allowed to fester Telegram's hidden corners will spill out into the streets and are calling for action.
David Lawrence, Senior Researcher for HOPE not hate, said: “Telegram is home to a remarkable amount of extreme racism and other forms of hatred. The platform's lax moderation has made it a safe haven for the far right. For years, we have called on Telegram to impede the spread of the extremism operating through its software, but the platform continues to fail to take effective action.”
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Telegram has allowed itself to become a haven for hate-mongers and Holocaust deniers.
"What starts on social media does not end on social media. The real-life influence that these groups have is enormous. It is high time that Telegram roots out the rampant antisemitism that lurks on its platform.”
A Telegram spokesperson said: "Telegram is an app that welcomes peaceful free speech, including that we do not agree with. However, calls to violence are explicitly forbidden by Telegram's terms of service.
"Our moderators proactively patrol public-facing parts of the app and accept user reports in order to remove such content and ban offending accounts."
Chief Superintendent Matt Richards, of Police Scotland, said: "We are well aware that organisations and groups use social media to promote their activities. Police Scotland works closely with a wide range of partners, including the UK counter-terrorism network, to ensure the people of Scotland can go about their daily life safely and securely.
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