Telegram fined $1m for obstructing eSafety commissioner after five-month delay to terrorism requests

Australia’s online safety regulator has fined messaging platform Telegram almost $1 million for delaying answering questions about measures they were taking to detect terrorist and extremist content.

In March last year, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant gave Telegram, WhatsApp, Google, Reddit and X (formerly known as Twitter) legally enforceable transparency reporting notices.

The notices required each platform to answer questions about measures they had in place to tackle terrorist and extremist material on their sites.

Telegram and Reddit were also specifically asked about the measures they were taking to combat child sexual abuse material, a topic other services had already been asked about in previous reporting notices.

All other platforms engaged by the May 2024 deadline, but Telegram provided a response five months later and in turn, has been fined $957,780.

Ms Inman Grant said the fine sent an important message to the industry that timely transparency is not a voluntary requirement in Australia and reinforces the need to comply with Australian laws.

“These powers give us a look under the hood at just how these platforms are dealing, or not dealing, with a range of serious and egregious online harms which affect Australians,” Ms Inman Grant said.

“Telegram took 160 days to provide information that was asked in the reporting notice and providing this information so late has obstructed eSafety from delivering its functions under the Online Safety Act for almost half a year. “

Ms Inman Grant said the threat posed by terrorist and extremist material shared and promoted online posed a growing risk to the community which is why these platforms need to step up and prevent their services from being misused.

The Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) recently raised the country’s terror threat level to “probable” and has cited the online radicalisation of young people as driving the heightened threat.

Answers provided to eSafety will be summarised in a transparency report to be released over the coming months.

Responses by X will not be included in that report as it seeks a review of the decision to give it the legal notice at the Administration Review Tribunal.