Telegram faces a potential AU$54.6 million ($38 million, €33 million) fine in Australia after a regulator said on Thursday the messaging platform failed to remove terrorist content despite warnings.
What are the charges against Telegram in Australia?
Australia’s online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, said it took action after videos of terrorist executions, mass shootings and other extremist content linked to attacks including the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings and the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shootings appeared on Telegram.
“We allege that this content remained accessible on the service for a long time, even after Telegram was given notice,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement.
The regulator said that despite users reporting the content and its broadcasters, Telegram failed to remove pro-terrorism content or suspend the accounts responsible between July and October 2025.
“This action comes at a time when Australia faces a heightened security environment against the fresh backdrop of the Bondi tragedy,” Grant said, in which 15 people were killed in an anti-Semitic mass shooting on a Sydney beach last year.
Telegram denied the allegations and said it would fight the case in court, adding that it had blocked thousands of extremist communities in 2026.
Russia accuses Telegram founder Durov of aiding terrorism
The court action comes a day after Russia accused Telegram’s billionaire founder Pavel Durov of promoting terrorist activity.
Russia’s Federal Security Service issued an international warrant for his arrest, alleging that the platform was used by Ukrainian operatives to organize attacks inside Russia.
Shortly after news of the warrant broke, Telegram’s account on X posted a photo of Durov giving the middle finger to the camera.
Durov, a Russian-born billionaire who now lives in Dubai, created the Telegram messaging app with his brother Nikolai and launched it in 2013. The platform currently has over a billion monthly active users.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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