Australia launches proceedings against Telegram over terrorist content

Australia’s internet regulator has begun legal action against Telegram for allegedly failing to remove terror material on the messaging platform, including Isis and beheading videos.The office ‌of the eSafety Commissioner said it began action after Telegram failed to remove videos of terrorist executions and mass shootings. The news comes a day after Russia charged the platform’s founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activity, alleging that ​the app was being used by Ukrainian spies to organise attacks inside Russia."This case concerns content linked to some of the most notorious ​acts of known extremist violence in recent history, including material associated ​with the Christchurch and Buffalo terror attacks," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman ⁠Grant said in a statement. "We allege that this content remained accessible on the ​service long after Telegram had been put on notice."A spokesperson for Telegram rejected the allegations, saying they “will contest them in court”. File: Muslim Association Canterbury President Mohamed Jama looks on as Temel Ataçocuğu arrives at Masjid An-Nur on 15 March 2022 in Christchurch, New Zealand (Getty)According to Ms Grant, the legal proceedings against Telegram commenced after a year-long investigation into terror content on Telegram. She said that her agency began compliance talks with the platform in 2024, but despite their engagement, Telegram continues to host the content.Failure to comply with Australia's codes ​and standards could result in civil penalties of up to A$54.6m ($38m), the statement said.“We have alleged that Telegram has failed to detect, deter, and disrupt pro-terror material on its service, has failed to remove pro-terror material after becoming aware of it, including after reports by Australian end users were made, and has failed to remove accounts, groups, and channels connected to that content,” she told reporters.“Telegram has a fundamental responsibility to take reasonable steps to prevent the hosting, sharing, and amplification of this harmful material, and enforce their own policies, which prohibit pro-terror from being posted publicly.”The app Telegram, a popular messenger app in Russia restricted by authorities, is shown on a smartphone in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, 29 July 2026 (AP)Among the terror content on platform include those linked to Christchurch and Buffalo attacks, as well as Isis beheading and executions. A white supremacist killed 51 Muslim worshippers and injured dozens at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019, in the worst mass shooting in the country's history.In 2022, a white teenager shot and killed 10 Black people and wounded three others in an alleged racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket.“This action comes at a time when Australia is facing a heightened security environment, against the fresh backdrop of the Bondi tragedy, the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism, and ASIO’s assessment that Australia’s terrorism threat level remains probable.”Highlighting the anti-terrorism efforts of the popular encrypted messaging app, he said they have blocked thousands of extremist communities in 2026 alone. According to the data cited by Nine.com.au, the app has blocked 153,085 terrorist-related communities. However, in a court filing, eSafety said ‌Australian Telegram ⁠users reported complaining to the platform about seeing 12 posts containing pro-terror content from July to October 2025, including three which contained known terrorist content.But the platform failed to take down 10 of the posts or suspend or block ​the accounts that posted ​the material, the ⁠filing added.A phone rests on a computer showing the Australian eSafety web page in Sydney, Thursday, 30 July 2026 (AP)“They’ve created a permissive posting environment on their more open channels, and this only serves to desensitise, to normalise, and to sometimes radicalise,” said Ms Grant. “We know that this is also a platform that’s used to plan attacks.” Based out of UAE, the app is one of the most downloaded apps with more than 1 billion users worldwide and is visited by Australians 1.5 million times a month. Its founder, Russian-born Pavel Durov, left Russia in 2014, moving himself ​and the ⁠company to Dubai in 2017.The platform has become a critical source of information on Russia's war in Ukraine and is used widely by officials in Moscow and Kyiv.Russia said on Wednesday it had ​charged Telegram Mr Durov with facilitating terrorist activity, alleging that his hugely popular messaging app was being used by ‌Ukrainian spies to organise attacks inside Russia. In response, Telegram's official account on X posted an image of the Russian-born billionaire making an obscene gesture with his middle finger.The charges, announced by the Federal Security Service (FSB), marked the culmination of a long investigation against Dubai-based Durov and Telegram. Moscow has effectively throttled the service as part of a wider campaign to ​cut off access to foreign tech platforms and tighten control over the internet.