The Telegram messenger app is currently in a battle royale with Australia’s anti-free speech eSafety commission over a controversial censorship law.
The Australian Federal Court ordered Telegram at the end of October to define more clearly the limits of the tech company’s lawsuit against eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. The deadline is Nov. 7, according to legal site MLex.
Telegram is pushing back on the Online Safety Act 2021, which gives Grant a dangerous degree of authority to demand information about social media companies’ efforts to censor allegedly “harmful” content. The law also imposes penalties if she believes the companies are not censoring enough. Tellingly, Telegram did comply to some extent with the censorship law, raising questions about its commitment to free speech as well.
In February, Telegram took Grant to court after she imposed a fine of A$957,780 (over $620,000) for allegedly failing to meet a reporting deadline. Reclaim the Net reported that Telegram is not only challenging the legality of the eSafety rules, but also the fine itself. eSafety lawyer Philip Solomon confirmed during a recent hearing that Telegram rejects the legality of the eSafety notice and the fine, the outlet explained.
The Australian law requires detailed reports on censorship of content supposedly supporting “terror and violent extremism” within 49 days of a censorship notice. In defense of the fine, Grant claimed Telegram received the notice in 2024 but did not comply within the stipulated time, per Reclaim the Net. In contrast, Telegram argued that it is not strictly speaking a “provider of social-media services,” hence it is not bound by the Online Safety Act.
Furthermore, Telegram insisted that it did not receive the March 2024 notice as the notice was sent to an unrelated email box. Instead, the letter only came to the company’s attention in August of last year. Telegram responded in October but maintained that it was not obligated to give Grant those responses, according to Reclaim the Net. Judge Christopher Horan sided with Solomon and eSafety in demanding clarity from Telegram on the scope of its lawsuit.
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