MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� Australia鈥檚 online safety watchdog has filed legal action against messaging app , saying the platform failed to remove extremist content including videos of white supremacist , and the as well as Islamic State group beheadings.
The United Arab Emirates-based app, which reports having 1 billion users worldwide, faces a fine of up to 54.6 million Australian dollars ($38 million) if convicted in the Australian Federal Court for 鈥渁lleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material,鈥� eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday.
The civil action is a test of Australia’s 2021 law requiring tech platforms to work to keep illegal and pro-terrorism material off their networks.
Telegram denied the claims. 鈥淲e reject these allegations and will contest them in court,鈥� a spokesperson said in a written statement sent on Telegram.
Regulator says app must take responsibility
The platform is one of the world’s most popular messaging apps. The Australian regulator is taking issue with what’s shared in group chats of up to 200 people and channels with unlimited reach.
鈥淭his 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,鈥� Inman Grant said in a statement.
鈥淲e allege that this content remained accessible on the service long after Telegram had been put on notice,鈥� she said.
The crimes cited by Inman Grant were ideologically-driven massacres performed for online audiences. Years later, digital artifacts of the massacres are still confounding regulators, who fear the power of videos and so-called manifestos to radicalize others.
In Buffalo in 2022, an American white supremacist livestreamed on Twitch part of a shooting at a supermarket in which he killed 10 Black people. He cited among his motivations the crimes of an Australian white supremacist who in 2019 livestreamed on Facebook a shooting at two Christchurch mosques, where he murdered 51 Muslim worshippers.
Telegram channels established after these and other hate-fueled crimes were populated by users who endorsed the killers and shared videos and other content from the massacres. The Australian watchdog’s claim, filed to the federal court Wednesday, said the unlimited broadcast size of Telegram channels meant the app must take responsibility for culling harmful material.
Telegram says it blocks ‘terrorist-related communities’
The messaging app’s statement said that the platform’s 鈥渆xtensive anti-terrorism efforts are well-documented,” adding a link to its published figures recording blocked content and channels. More than 150,000 鈥渢errorist-related communities鈥� have been blocked from the platform this year, according to the figures.
Inman Grant said eSafety began urging Telegram to comply with its own policies in March 2024, but the platform had been 鈥渘on-responsive鈥� for months.
The Australian official said that changed after Telegram鈥檚 Russian billionaire founder and in August 2024 over allegations that his platform was being used for illegal activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of images of child sexual abuse. He was released after four days of questioning on bail of 5 million euros ($5.7 million).
Telegram had “become more compliant initially with us and with other regulators after France took action against the company,鈥� Inman Grant said.
鈥淭hey’ve still kept a permissive hosting environment for terrorist content,鈥� she added.
The Australian court case also related to IS beheadings and other 鈥渉orrific material used for propaganda and for radicalization,鈥� she said.
鈥淲hen platforms are alerted to terrorist content, they must act,鈥� Inman Grant said.
On Wednesday, Russia鈥檚 Federal Security Service accused Durov of aiding what it called terrorist activities. The service also said it was adding Durov鈥檚 name to international wanted lists.
Telegram said in its statement supplied to The Associated Press on Thursday that it is committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. It said it had played a prominent role in pro-democracy movements around the world, including in Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar and Hong Kong.
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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
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