"Australia fines Telegram for delay in answering child abuse, terror questions", 25 February 2025

Australia's online safety regulator... fined messaging platform Telegram about A$1 million ($640,000) for its delay in answering questions about measures the app took to prevent the spread of child abuse and violent extremist material.

The eSafety Commission in March 2024 sought responses from social media platformsYouTube, X and Facebook,b to Telegram and Reddit, and blamed them for not doing enough to stop extremists from using live-streaming features, algorithms and recommendation systems to recruit users.

Telegram and Reddit were asked about the steps they were taking to combat child sexual abuse material on their services. They had to respond by May but Telegram submitted its response in October.

"Timely transparency is not a voluntary requirement in Australia and this action reinforces the importance of all companies complying with Australian law," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement.

Telegram's delay in providing information obstructed eSafety from implementing its online safety measures, Grant said.

Telegram said it had fully responded to all of eSafety's questions last year, with no outstanding issues.

"The unfair and disproportionate penalty concerns only the response time frame, and we intend to appeal," the company said in an email.

Australia's spy agency... said one in five priority counter-terrorism cases investigated involved youths.

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Durov, who is out on bail, has denied the allegations.

Grant said Big Tech must be transparent and put in place measures to prevent their services from being misused as the threat posed by online extremist materials poses a growing risk.

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If Telegram chooses to ignore the penalty notice, eSafety would seek a civil penalty in court, Grant said.