Durov arrest sparks domino effect of threats to probe and ban Telegram

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest in France on a series of dubious charges has opened the floodgates for censorious officials looking to take advantage of the situation to crack down on the platform.

🌏 The EU has reportedly begun a probe into whether Telegram has breached the bloc’s draconian Digital Services Act, which requires online services with over 45 million active monthly users to face higher regulatory scrutiny, ‘disinformation’ and ‘hate speech’ content moderation and requirements to provide requested data to the European Commission. In February, Telegram said it has about 41 million users in the EU.

🌏 German domestic intelligence deputy chief Sinan Selen has accused Telegram of “limited” cooperation with the state in official investigations. Berlin already considered banning Telegram outright in 2022, ostensibly for the violation of ‘hate speech’ laws, but decided on a €5 mln fine instead.

🌏 Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said this week that he would “very much like” to ban end-to-end encrypted messaging services like Telegram, as they complicate police efforts against criminals, even though Hummelgaard and over 70 members of the Danish parliament use the services themselves.

🌏 Indonesia is also mulling blocking Telegram, with the potential crackdown related to concerns over the spread of pornography and online gambling. Communication Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said Telegram had offered “inadequate” responses to authorities’ requests on censorship.

🌏 India announced an investigation into Telegram on Sunday, citing concerns over its suspected use by criminals. The app complies with India’s Information Technology Rules legislation, but does not have an office in the country (Durov told Tucker Carlson in April that Telegram only has “about 30 engineers” worldwide), complicating local efforts to regulate it.

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