Australia’s online safety regulator has launched legal action against Telegram, alleging the messaging platform failed to remove videos of terrorist executions and mass shootings for weeks after they were reported by Australian users.
The country’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said the civil proceedings followed a year-long investigation into whether Telegram had complied with its obligations under the Online Safety Act. If found in breach, the platform could face penalties of up to A$54.6 million (US$38 million).
According to the regulator, Telegram allowed reported pro-terror content to remain online for as long as three weeks, failed to remove the accounts, channels and groups distributing the material, and did not detect known extremist content, including footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand and the 2022 Buffalo supermarket mass shooting in the United States.
The eSafety Commissioner said some of that material remained accessible on the platform for almost three months before it was removed.
The regulator also alleged that Telegram’s terms of service did not prohibit pro-terror content across all areas of the platform and that users who reported such material were never informed of the outcome of their complaints.
“This should concern all of us. We’re talking about the most seriously harmful online material and Australian law requires services across the online ecosystem to take responsibility for the role they play in allowing this material to be disseminated,” Grant said.
“No platform is above the law, and this action demonstrates that eSafety will not hesitate to use the full range of its powers to protect Australians,” she added.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said Australia has zero tolerance for technology companies that fail to prevent, detect and remove terrorist content from their platforms.