Australiaβs online safety regulator has launched Federal Court action against Telegram, alleging the messaging service left videos of terrorist executions and mass shootings on its platform for weeks after Australians reported them.
eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the civil proceedings followed a year-long investigation into whether Telegram met its obligations under the Online Safety Act, with breaches carrying penalties of up to $54.6 million per breach.
The regulator alleges Telegram failed to remove reported pro-terror material for as long as three weeks, did not shut down the accounts, channels and groups distributing it, and did not detect known material including the livestreamed 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting and the 2022 Buffalo mass shooting. That content was on the service for nearly three months before it was removed, eSafety alleges.
The regulator also claims Telegramβs terms of service did not prohibit pro-terror material across all parts of the platform, and that complainants were never told the outcome of their reports.
βNo platform is above the law,β Inman Grant said, pointing to ASIOβs assessment that the terrorism threat level remains probable and warnings from director-general Mike Burgess about online radicalisation.
Telegram, which says it has more than a billion users, is visited by Australians about 1.5 million times a month.
The company was contacted for comment.
More to come
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David Swan is the technology editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously technology editor for The Australian newspaper.Connect via X or email.Elias Visontay is a National Consumer Affairs Reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.