Australia Sues Telegram — Fine Could Reach A$54.6M Over Terrorist Content

Australia's online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, has filed suit against Telegram in the Federal Court, alleging the messaging app failed to take reasonable steps to remove publicly accessible terrorist content — including videos of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks (51 killed) and the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shooting (10 killed). The regulator says the footage remained accessible for nearly three months after the platform was notified.

“Online platforms increasingly play a role in the radicalization of individuals.”

— Julie Inman Grant, eSafety Commissioner, citing assessments from Australian intelligence agency ASIO

• The suit cites Section 146(1) of the Online Safety Act and the Relevant Electronic Services Standard
• The investigation ran roughly a year, opened after user reports filed between July and October 2025
• The regulator also alleges Telegram's terms of service don't clearly prohibit access to terrorist content, and users weren't informed of the outcome of their reports
• The maximum fine, if the court finds a breach, is A$54.6 million (about $38 million)

Telegram says it has over a billion users worldwide and about 1.5 million monthly visits from Australia; the platform hasn't issued an official comment on the lawsuit. For the crypto industry, Telegram is more than a messenger — it's the same platform where Durov announced the Gram crypto wallet, coming to over a billion users, so any regulatory pressure on the platform potentially reaches its crypto ecosystem too. More detail on the lawsuit is available via CryptoTimes.

Nothing here should be taken as financial advice — just information to consider.