The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors announced last week that “The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram,” an investigative documentary by ProPublica and FRONTLINE, was nominated for a Peabody Award in the news category. The honor celebrates compelling and empowering storytelling in broadcast and streaming media.
“The Rise and Fall of Terrogram” details how young people have been radicalized by a global community of online extremists to commit acts of terror. The film tells the story of how dangerous extremists exploit largely underregulated realms of the internet to influence individuals’ behavior to deadly ends. It demonstrates with compelling evidence just how vulnerable young people are to the influence of online fearmongering and hate. It powerfully documents how racism, antisemitism, homophobia and other forms of hate proliferate on messaging and social media platforms and lead to devastating acts of violence in real life.
The yearlong investigation took ProPublica reporter and FRONTLINE correspondent A.C. Thompson and a team of journalists — James Bandler of ProPublica; Annie Wong, Karina Meier and Thomas Jennings of FRONTLINE; and Lukáš Diko of the Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak — around the globe in search of answers. Reporters published over several months amid critical developments that would mark the collapse of the Terrorgram Collective and its network. They reported on the fallout after the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov by French authorities seeking to hold him responsible for illegal activity conducted or facilitated on the platform — including organized drug trafficking and possession of pornographic images of minors. While Durov denied any wrongdoing, after his arrest the company announced a slew of reforms, including promising to police illegal content on Telegram and share the IP addresses and phone numbers of alleged lawbreakers with authorities.
In the wake of the arrests, indictments and a crackdown on Telegram, the team covered the fallout as Terrorgram members began to flee the platform. Ultimately, the reporters found that many have found a new home on X, where owner Elon Musk has loosened content restrictions. And, despite Terrorgram’s weakened state, they showed that it continued to inspire real-world violence.
Telegram executives declined to be interviewed for this film and the articles but in a statement said, “Calls for violence from any group are not tolerated on our platform.” The company also said that since 2023 it has stepped up moderation practices.
The winners of the 86th annual Peabody Awards will be announced on April 30. See a list of all the nominees.
