Australian Cyber Security Agency Sues Telegram for Failure to Remove Terrorist Content, Seeks $54.6 Million AUD

July 30th. The Australian Cyber Security Commissioner has officially filed a civil lawsuit against Telegram in the Federal Court, accusing the platform of systemically violating its security obligations as stipulated in the Cyber Security Act. After a year-long investigation, the regulatory agency accuses Telegram of failing to remove reported content from Australian users, including terrorist execution videos, some of which remained accessible for up to three weeks after being reported. Furthermore, the regulator alleges that the platform failed to detect known terrorism-supporting content, such as the live stream video of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings and content related to the May 2022 Buffalo mass shooting, which was only removed nearly three months after being uploaded. Additionally, the Australian Cyber Security Commissioner also accuses Telegram of failing to take down relevant accounts, channels, and groups to prevent future violations, failing to uphold consistent terms of service across the entire platform prohibiting terrorism-supporting content, and failing to provide feedback to the reporters on the outcomes of their reports.

Under Australian law, breaches of the relevant guidelines and standards can result in a maximum civil penalty of $54.6 million AUD. Cyber Security Commissioner Julie Inman Grant stated that the content involved in this case is linked to some of the most notorious recent acts of extreme violence in history, with this content remaining accessible on Telegram for an extended period after notification. At the time of this lawsuit, the Russian Federal Security Service had just charged Telegram's founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and issued an international arrest warrant, putting the platform under legal pressure from multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.