Photo courtesy of Anadolu
Australia’s online safety regulator has taken legal action against Telegram, accusing the messaging platform of failing to promptly remove terrorist and mass shooting videos reported by users.
The eSafety Commissioner said the case followed a year-long investigation into Telegram’s compliance with the country’s Online Safety Act, which carries penalties of up to A$54.6 million for violations.
Regulators alleged that some reported terrorist content remained accessible for as long as three weeks after being flagged by Australian users.
The agency also said Telegram failed to disable the accounts, groups and channels that circulated the material and did not identify previously known extremist content.
Among the videos cited were footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack in New Zealand and the 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, which authorities said remained on the platform for nearly three months before being removed.
The regulator also claimed Telegram’s terms of service did not fully prohibit pro-terror content across all areas of the platform and that users who submitted reports were not informed of the outcome.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said online platforms had a legal responsibility to prevent the spread of the most harmful content and warned that no company was exempt from Australian law.
Communications Minister Anika Wells backed the legal action, saying the government would continue holding technology companies accountable if they failed to detect and remove terrorist material.
