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Australia sues Telegram for up to $38 million over pro-terror videos
The eSafety Commissioner filed the case in federal court and can seek an order to cease Telegram's service in Australia, a power it has never used.
Australia's eSafety Commissioner has filed civil penalty proceedings against Telegram, seeking up to A$54.6 million, about $38 million, over alleged failures to remove pro-terror content.
The regulator alleges Telegram failed to detect known pro-terror material, including live-streamed footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting and the 2022 Buffalo supermarket attack, which it says remained online for nearly three months.
Australia's eSafety Commissioner also alleges Telegram's terms of service do not prohibit pro-terror material across all parts of the app, and told BBC News that the platform created a permissive environment where extremist content was easy to find.
Telegram rejected the allegations and said it will contest them in court. The filing follows an infringement notice issued by the regulator last February over a five-month delay responding to questions about terrorist and child sexual exploitation material, and it comes as Russia's FSB charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism.