Australia's eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, is taking Telegram to court over alleged failure to remove "pro-terror" content, including footage of the Christchurch shootings, which she claims the platform left online despite being notified. The maximum fine for Telegram could be A$54.6m (£28m, US$38m). Inman-Grant alleges that Telegram had a "permissive environment" for hosting extremist content, making it easy to find and potentially desensitizing users. Telegram has rejected the allegations, stating that its anti-terrorism efforts are well-documented and will contest them in court.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Australia's eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, is taking Telegram to court over its alleged failure to remove "pro-terror" material from its platform. The content in question includes a video of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings and videos of terrorist executions. According to Grant, Telegram has left this type of content online even after being notified about it. As a result, the company could face a fine of up to A$54.6m (£28m, US$38m) under Australia's Online Safety Act. This lawsuit comes on the heels of Russia charging Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism due to allegations that the app was used for recruitment by Ukrainian secret services. Inman-Grant emphasized that no platform is above the law and that this case should concern everyone.
Written for “Australia Blocks Telegram Content” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's framing of Telegram as having a 'permissive environment' for hosting extremist content, and allegations that it 'desensitises, normalises, and sometimes radicalises' users, suggests a critical tone towards the platform.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.45 for article 42 · logged 2026-07-30
- Published
Australia is taking Telegram to court over its alleged failure to remove "pro-terror" material, including video of the Christchurch shootings, the country's eSafety commissioner has said.
asserted
commissioner → take → shootings
Julie Inman-Grant, who last year led Australia's world-first ban on social media for under-16s, said the platform faced a fine of up to to A$54.6m (£28m, US$38m) for failing to comply with its safety obligations under the Online Safety Act.
asserted
platform → lead → Act
The platform had left content "linked to some of the most notorious acts of known extremist violence in recent history" online long after it had been put on notice, she alleged.
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she → leave → notice
"This should concern all of us," she said, adding "no platform is above the law".
asserted
platform → concern → law
The announcement comes a day after Russia charged Telegram's founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism, based on allegations that the messenger app had been used for recruitment by Ukrainian secret services.
asserted
app → come → services
Durov was also arrested and placed under formal investigation in France in 2024 for his alleged failure to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality.
asserted
Durov → arrest → criminality
He was allowed to go home months later, while the investigation continues.
asserted
investigation → allow → ?
Inman-Grant said her agency had begun inquiring what Telegram was doing to combat terrorist and extremist material in March 2024, and had endured "five very difficult months of unresponsiveness".
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Telegram → say → unresponsiveness
Though the platform later started engaging, she said it had retained a "permissive environment" for hosting extremist content that was "very easy to find".
asserted
that → start → content
"This only serves to desensitise, to normalise and to sometimes radicalise" users, she said.
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she → serve → users
She also alleged that the platform was "sometimes used to plan attacks".
asserted
platform → allege → attacks
A Telegram spokesperson said the platform's "extensive" anti-terrorism efforts were "well documented", adding: "We reject these allegations and will contest them in court."
Extremist content that was allegedly accessible on Telegram included video of the 2019 Christchurch mosque and Buffalo shooting in New York in May 2022, as well as videos of terrorist executions, according to Inman-Grant.
uncertain
that → say → Grant
With the "painful aftermath" of the attack that targeted a Jewish festival in Bondi in December fresh in Australians' minds, it "is more important than ever that digital platforms meet their obligations to protect the community", she said.
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she → target → community
Inman-Grant noted that Australia does not issue licences for platforms like Telegram, but said "we could apply to the federal court and ask that the service be ceased".
uncertain
service → note → court
"We've never used those powers," she said.
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she → use → powers
"We'll see how this all plays out and whether that kind of action is warranted."
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kind → see → action
The eSafety regulator also fined Telegram A$1m in February 2025 for failing to respond on time to questions about how it was tackling child abuse and extremist material on the platform.
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it → fin → platform
