Australia's eSafety commissioner sues Telegram over failure to remove Christchurch, Buffalo shooting videos and IS beheadings. The app faces a A$54.6 million fine.
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MELBOURNE – Australia's online safety regulator filed a civil lawsuit against Telegram, accusing the messaging app of failing to remove videos of white supremacist mass shootings and Islamic State beheadings from its platform.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday the UAE-based app faces a fine of up to A$54.6 million ($38 million) if the Australian Federal Court finds it violated a 2021 law requiring tech platforms to detect and remove pro-terror material.
Telegram denied the claims. "We reject these allegations and will contest them in court," a spokesperson said in a written statement.
The case centers on content shared in group chats of up to 200 people and channels with unlimited reach. The regulator alleges the platform kept material from the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, the 2022 Buffalo supermarket massacre, and IS beheadings long after being notified, Inman Grant said.
"This case concerns content linked to some of the most notorious acts of known extremist violence in recent history," she said. "We allege that this content remained accessible on the service long after Telegram had been put on notice."
In Buffalo, a white supremacist livestreamed on Twitch part of a shooting that killed 10 Black people. He cited the Christchurch shooter, who livestreamed on Facebook the murder of 51 Muslim worshippers. Telegram channels set up after those attacks were filled with users sharing videos and manifestos.
The watchdog's claim, filed Wednesday, said the unlimited broadcast capacity of Telegram channels forces the app to take responsibility for culling harmful material.
Inman Grant said eSafety began urging Telegram to comply with its own policies in March 2024. The platform was "non-responsive" for months, she said. That changed after French authorities arrested Telegram's founder Pavel Durov in August 2024 over allegations the platform facilitated drug trafficking and child sexual abuse material. He was released on €5 million bail.
"They've still kept a permissive hosting environment for terrorist content," Inman Grant said.
Telegram said its "extensive anti-terrorism efforts are well-documented," citing published figures showing more than 150,000 "terrorist-related communities" blocked this year. The company said it is committed to user privacy and freedom of speech, pointing to its role in pro-democracy movements in Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar and Hong Kong.
On Wednesday, Russia's Federal Security Service accused Durov of aiding what it called terrorist activities and said it was adding his name to international wanted lists.
The Australian case is a test of the country's 2021 law requiring platforms to police illegal and extremist content. No hearing date has been set.
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