Research & Analysis

Alternate Names: Terrorgram Collective, Terrorgram Network

Terrorgram emerged in the late 2010s as a loose international network of white supremacist individuals and groups, typically neo-Nazi in nature, seeking to promote violent acts in the service of white supremacist accelerationism. White supremacist accelerationism is a school of thought within the white supremacist movement that argues the only way to create a desired whites-only or white-dominated society is to destabilize and destroy current society through violence and disruption, then build a new society from its ashes. Terrorgram—taking its name from the internet platform Telegram, on which it conducted most of its activities—dedicated itself to accelerationist propaganda, glorifying white supremacist mass killers like Dylann Roof and Brenton Tarrant as “saints” and urging others to follow in their footsteps to commit terrorist attacks and hate crimes against minorities and other targets, such as infrastructure.  Their propaganda efforts included producing several lengthy and distinctively illustrated manuals with motivational screeds as well as ostensibly practical advice for would-be terrorists.

In 2024, the U.S. designated Terrorgram as Specially Designated Global Terrorists; later that year, the FBI arrested two key American Terrorgram leaders on a number of charges.  The arrests precipitated Terrorgram’s collapse as the network’s remaining members sought to avoid infiltration or identification.  However, Terrorgram’s digital publications are still in circulation among accelerationists, meaning that people can still encounter their symbols. Terrorgram logos imitate a Waffen SS divisional shield design, though with their own distinct symbology. One simply features a paper airplane, while a different logo depicts a swastika, an infinity symbol, and a ski mask. A third version features the swastika and ski mask along with part of a Sonnenrad symbol. 

Alternate Names: NLYS

Never Lose Your Smile is a design/meme consisting of the phrase “Never Lose Your Smile” accompanied by the Totenkopf skull image or, more commonly, merely the bottom half of that skull, which obscures its true nature and thus allows the image to pass unnoticed as a white supremacist symbol. The deceptive nature of this design has also allowed extremists to sell clothing, patches, and other items featuring the image on major internet platforms without triggering moderation.

Some Never Lose Your Smile images may also contain the colors or designs of national flags. Other variations use Totenkopf imagery with a slightly different phrase, such as “Never Lose Your Love” or “Never Lose Your Hope.”

Some white supremacists have also used the phrase alone, without the skull, in circumstances such as screen names.  However, use of the phrase by itself without a clear white supremacist context should not be taken for granted as hate-related.

White supremacists likely borrowed this concept from older, non-extremist designs that combined the phrase with non-Totenkopf skull images. Use of the “Never Lose Your Smile” slogan in combination with generic skulls or other non-white supremacist images, such as generic clowns, should not be considered hate related.