Australia’s online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, has officially filed a civil lawsuit against Telegram in the Federal Court on July 30, 2026. The allegations are specific: the messaging platform, currently used by over 1 billion people worldwide, allegedly failed to remove terrorism-related content despite receiving repeated notices from authorities.
At the core of the legal dispute is the dissemination of videos depicting mass shootings, specifically the deadly 2019 Christchurch attack in New Zealand and the 2022 shooting in Buffalo, United States. The eSafety Commissioner stated that the violent material remained accessible long after Telegram was served with enforcement notices.
In several cases documented by the regulator, the videos and extremist material reportedly remained visible to the public for up to three weeks after the initial complaints were lodged. If found guilty of violating the law and ignoring legal orders, Telegram faces civil penalties of up to AUD 54.6 million, or roughly $35 million to $38 million.
Pushback in Court
Telegram is not backing down against the multi-million-dollar lawsuit. The company denied the negligence allegations leveled against it by Australian authorities.
“We reject these allegations and will defend ourselves in court,” Telegram stated in an official response. A company spokesperson also maintained that they actively combat dangerous content, noting that the platform had already banned thousands of extremist communities throughout 2026.
The eSafety Commissioner’s decision to bring Telegram before the federal court is not an isolated occurrence. The lawsuit reflects a broader global wave of digital platform regulation, as governments increasingly hold service providers accountable for the circulation of harmful material online.
Two Blows in a Single Day
The legal pressure in Australia comes at a difficult juncture for Telegram’s leadership. Just one day before the eSafety suit was filed, Russia’s FSB charged founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities.
Beyond Russia and Australia, Durov remains under criminal investigation in France following his arrest at Le Bourget airport in August 2024. The legal pressure in France previously prompted Telegram to update its privacy policy during the year of Durov’s detention.
Now, with another court proceeding underway from the southern hemisphere, Pavel Durov faces compounding legal woes. The mounting legal challenges facing Telegram highlight that global regulators are becoming increasingly aggressive in policing previously untouched digital spaces.
Reported via Cointelegraph.
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