Australia’s cyber safety watchdog took court action Thursday against Telegram, alleging the global messaging platform had failed to remove terrorism material.
Under Australia’s online safety law, Telegram faces a maximum penalty of up to AU$54.6 million ($38 million).
The development comes a day after Russia announced it was seeking the arrest of Telegram’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov, alleging his “complicity in terrorism”.
Durov, who holds French and UAE passports, was accused of allowing the platform to be used for recruitment by Ukraine’s security services.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday the watchdog would allege Telegram had failed to remove pro-terror material including videos of terrorist executions and mass shootings, including “some of the most notorious acts of known extremist violence in recent history” despite being put on notice.
This included content linked to the live streamed 2019 Christchurch Mosque shooting and a 2022 Buffalo mass shooting in New York, she said.
“When platforms are alerted to terrorist content, they must act,” she told a press conference in Sydney.
“This action comes at a time when Australia is experiencing a heightened security environment against the fresh backdrop of the Bondi tragedy,” she said, a reference to an antisemitic mass shooting at a Sydney beach that killed 15 people last year.
Telegram, registered in the United Arab Emirates, is a major global platform visited by Australians 1.5 million times a month, the regulator said.
Durov, 41, has lived in both Dubai and France.
In 2024, he was arrested by French police on charges related to the distribution of illegal content, but was later released on bail.
He left France after authorities there lifted a travel ban.
