Australia sues Telegram over alleged failures to remove terrorist content

Australia's online safety regulator, eSafety, has launched legal action against Telegram, accusing the messaging platform of failing to remove terrorist content quickly enough, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit, filed in the Federal Court of Australia, alleges that Telegram failed to effectively detect and remove extremist material, including execution videos and footage of mass killings.

• The case follows an investigation that lasted about a year. According to court documents, Australian users reported 12 posts containing alleged terrorist content to Telegram between July and October 2025.
• Three of those posts allegedly contained material already known to authorities. eSafety claims Telegram failed to remove 10 of the 12 posts and did not suspend the accounts responsible for publishing them.
• Some of the content allegedly remained online for up to three weeks after being reported. The regulator also said it found footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks and the 2022 Buffalo mass shooting on Telegram that remained available for nearly three months after being uploaded.

According to eSafety, Telegram also failed to take sufficient steps to prevent the further distribution of terrorist content.

The regulator further argues that Telegram's Terms of Service do not explicitly prohibit access to or distribution of pro-terrorism material across all sections of the platform, and that users are not adequately informed about the outcome of their reports.

If found liable, Telegram could face penalties of up to A$54.6 million (about $38 million). The final amount, if any, will be determined by the court.

In a statement, Telegram rejected the allegations and said it would contest the case in court. The company said its counterterrorism measures are well documented and that it has removed thousands of extremist communities in 2026 alone.