Australia’s online watchdog sues Telegram over terror videos

Updated July 30, 2026 — 10:32am,first published July 30, 2026 — 9:50amAustralia’s 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.“No platform is above the law,“: eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.Alex EllinghausenThe 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 Telegram’s 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.“No platform is above the law,” Inman Grant said, pointing to ASIO’s 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.The eSafety Commissioner filed a statement of claim in the court’s Victorian registry on Wednesday against Telegram FZ-LLC, which has a registered office in Dubai, and Telegram Messenger Inc, registered in the British Virgin Islands.Asked at a press conference on Thursday whether the material was still accessible, Inman Grant said some of it was. She said the case merited “a strong deterrence message”.Inman Grant said her office first approached Telegram in March 2024 over transparency notices asking what it was doing about terrorist and violent extremist material, and had “five very difficult months of non-responsiveness” before the company began engaging. Face-to-face meetings followed, and cooperation improved after French authorities acted against founder Pavel Durov, who was arrested in Paris in August 2024.Telegram’s billionaire founder Pavel Durov is no stranger to controversy. APDurov launched Telegram in 2013 with his brother Nikolai and left Russia the following year for Dubai, which he has described as the best place for a neutral platform like his. Forbes puts his net worth at $US6.6 billion ($9.5 billion).His platform’s approach to moderation has drawn action in more than one jurisdiction. French police arrested Durov in Paris in August 2024 over allegations Telegram was being used for drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse material, and he was released after four days of questioning on €5 million ($8.2 million) bail. Russia’s FSB this week accused him of aiding terrorist activity and said it was adding him to international wanted lists, alleging Telegram had failed to remove channels used to coordinate sabotage inside Russia. Durov responded by posting an image of himself raising his middle finger.“They’ve still kept a permissive hosting environment for terrorist content,” Inman Grant said.She said Telegram was “ostensibly based in the UAE” and had engaged in what she called jurisdictional arbitrage, comparing it with other platforms including X, which has fought the regulator in court.Asked whether Telegram could be pushed out of Australia, Inman Grant said the service does not require a licence to operate here, but eSafety could apply to the Federal Court to have it shut off, a power the regulator has never used. Failing to pay a penalty would put the company in contempt.The action lands in a heightened security environment, with the Bondi terror attack still raw, the Royal Commission into Antisemitism due to report in December and ASIO’s assessment that the terrorism threat level remains probable.Get news and reviews on technology, gadgets and gaming in our Technology newsletter every Friday. Sign up here.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.From our partners