The body initiated enforcement action against the messaging platform last year
eSafety has initiated civil penalty proceedings against messaging service platform Telegram for its supposed failure to identify and take down pro-terror material like terrorist execution and mass shooting videos, thus breaching s.146(1) of the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth).
The body conducted a year-long investigation and found that Telegram did not comply with its systemic safety obligations under the Act’s Relevant Electronic Services Standard. Specifically, it was noncompliant in the following areas:
The body wants Telegram to pay penalties deemed appropriate by the court to the Commonwealth. Australia’s codes and standards stipulate that online services are obliged to take steps to limit, identify, deter and disrupt the distribution of unlawful material; noncompliance could incur a maximum civil penalty of $54.6m.
eSafety had first issued Telegram a legally enforceable transparency reporting notice under the Act in March 2024. The notice mandated the platform to respond to questions about compliance with the Basic Online Safety Expectations, such as the implementation of measures addressing the presence of terrorist and violent extremist material. Meta, WhatsApp, Google, Reddit and X received similar notices.
In particular, Telegram and Reddit were questioned about measures they had in place to tackle sexual abuse material. All the platforms were given a 6 May 2024 deadline. Telegram was the only platform that failed to meet the deadline, only submitting its responses on 13 October; as a result, eSafety served the platform an infringement notice for $957,780.
“This 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. We allege that this content remained accessible on the service long after Telegram had been put on notice”, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a media release. “This should concern all of us. We’re talking about the most seriously harmful online material and Australian law requires services across the online ecosystem to take responsibility for the role they play in allowing this material to be disseminated, including by enforcing their own terms of service”.
Grant added that per Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director general Mike Burgess, online radicalisation was increasingly a factor in ASIO investigations, with online strangers doing much of the radicalising.
“With the painful aftermath of the Bondi terror attack still fresh in the minds of all Australians, and ASIO’s assessment that Australia's terrorism threat level remains ‘probable’, it is more important than ever that digital platforms meet their obligations to protect the community”, Grant said.
Grant noted that with Telegram’s reach, it “has a responsibility to take reasonable steps to prevent the hosting, sharing, amplification and monetisation of this harmful material”.
“No platform is above the law and this action demonstrates that eSafety will not hesitate to use the full range of its powers to protect Australians”, Grant said.
Telegram responded to the accusations in a statement posted on its platform, pointing to its “extensive” anti-terrorism initiatives including a list of content and channels it blocked. Its figures indicated that over 150,000 “terrorist-related communities” had been shut down this year.
“We reject these allegations and will contest them in court”, the company wrote in the statement, a snippet of which was published by The Associated Press.
Last month, X Corp lost to eSafety in Federal Court after the court found that X breached s.162 of the Online Safety Act and s.82 of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014 (Cth).
