Telegram violated the rules, did not agree to this, and now it will have to pay a hefty fine.

A fine of crores of rupees has been imposed on Telegram in Australia. The company did not respond to the notice of the Online Safety Commission on time. Now the company has said that it will appeal against this fine.

A fine of crores of rupees has been imposed on the online messaging platform Telegram. Last year Australia's Online Safety Commission sent notices to Telegram, WhatsApp, Google, Reddit, and X. In this notice, information was sought from all the platforms about the steps they had taken to stop radical content on their sites. Telegram has not answered these questions within the stipulated time, due to which it has been fined.

What is the matter?

In March last year, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant sent a transparency reporting notice to social media companies. The notice also sought information from Telegram and Reddit about the rules made to prevent content related to sexual abuse of children on their platforms. All other companies had filed their replies by the deadline of May 2024, but Telegram could not do so. Telegram had submitted its reply with a delay of 5 months, due to which it has to face a fine of about Rs 8.5 crore.

Grant said this

Commissioner Grant said that this fine will send an important message to the industry that showing transparency on time is not an optional requirement and they have to follow the laws of the country. He further said that Telegram took 160 days to respond to this notice. The work of the commission has been affected due to the delay in receiving this information. He said that society is in danger due to terrorist and extremist content and hence these companies have to come forward and stop the misuse of their service.

Telegram said this

Telegram has opposed the decision to impose the fine and said that it has answered all the questions. A spokesperson for the company said that this fine has been imposed only due to the delay in time and an appeal will be filed against it.