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Extremists on Telegram pose as fight clubs, raising alarms in U.S.

White-supremacist groups are escalating efforts to recruit new members over the Telegram social media app, where they’ve amplified racist conspiracies while posing as men-only fight clubs.

Communications from so-called Active Clubs surged on Telegram over the past month, as the U.S. election neared, according to civil rights groups and researchers who have studied extremism for years. Some clubs with large followings have shared each others’ messages in a sign of coordination among cells that have previously portrayed themselves as independent.

U.S. lawmakers, congressional staff and the departments of State and Homeland Security have received more than 20 briefings in recent weeks from counterterrorism experts who track Active Clubs, according to a person involved in the discussions who requested anonymity to describe closed-door meetings. Some of the briefings prior to Election Day focused on potential political violence by far-right Active Clubs in the event that Vice President Kamala Harris won the election.

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