Melbourne man accused of spreading 10,000 Islamic State propaganda files
An Australian man has been accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and spreading thousands of pieces of extremist propaganda online over several years, authorities said on Wednesday. The 65-year-old Melbourne resident was due to appear in court later in the day on charges of being a member of a terrorist organisation and transmitting violent extremist material through an encrypted messaging app that officials did not name.
Authorities said he was the seventh man arrested in Victoria since May over allegations of possessing or distributing Islamic State content online. However, the Australian Federal Police did not link his arrest to the other six cases and said they could not say whether they believed the matter was connected.
According to authorities, the man sent 10,000 files containing extremist content between 2015 and 2020, including material related to executions, torture and Islamic State propaganda. Police also allege that he shared information on avoiding detection by law enforcement, along with instructional guides on planning and carrying out mass casualty attacks. The offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Paula Hudson told reporters in Canberra that the scale and spread of the material "placed him as a principal distributor of ISIS propaganda within the group". "The material glorified acts of violence and terrorism, spreading hateful ideology that is designed to radicalise others," Hudson said.
Authorities said the investigation began in 2020 when border officials examined the man's luggage as he was leaving Australia for a six-month trip to Egypt. Hudson said he was not known to have travelled overseas since then and was not linked to any attack or plot.
Earlier this month, authorities arrested and charged a 30-year-old Melbourne man with possessing violent extremist content as he tried to leave Australia for the Middle East. Federal police allege he was part of an online group chat with five other men from Victoria who were arrested in May and who all face charges related to possessing extremist material, including Islamic State propaganda.
The Islamic State group has become more scattered and considerably weaker since a US-led military intervention in 2019 drove it out of territory it had seized in Iraq and Syria, but its cells remain active and it has inspired a number of independent attacks, including in western countries. In Australia, authorities allege that a mass shooting at a Hanukkah event in 2025, in which two men are accused of killing 15 Jewish people, was motivated by the shooters' Islamic State links.
According to a website of Australia's national security agencies, about 200 Australians travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State group between 2012 and 2019. The website also says dozens more assisted the group by supporting those overseas or by planning or carrying out terrorist attacks in Australia. The latest arrest adds to a series of cases in Victoria involving alleged possession or distribution of extremist Islamic State material online.
