Telegram did not hide it and even announced it on its site: Community messaging, which moderates content minimally, did not respond to legal requests except in exceptional circumstances. It is precisely this passivity that, in part, led to the cyber section (J3) by the Paris prosecutor’s office to oversee a case that led to the arrest in France on August 24 and then the indictment on August 28 of the co-founder of the suit, Pavel Durov. The company’s CEO is accused, among other things, of “refusal to communicate, at the request of the authorized authorities, the information or documents necessary to carry out and exploit the interceptions authorized by law.”
The arrest of the extravagant French, Russian and Emirati businessman, arrested at Le Bourget airport (Seine-Saint-Denis), had immediate effects. According to our information – confirming that of Release –, while the Telegram co-founder was answering questions from the National Anti-Fraud Office, the UAE-based company responded to several requests for information made by the Juvenile Office in the context of investigations into acts of child delinquency. Something unprecedented for this investigative service, accustomed to most of its requests remaining dead letter.
According to our information, only applications related to terrorism have been processed so far. “Every time we have had to take over Telegram, through legal requisitions, [l’entreprise] He replied, “ confirm to World the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office. a support which the Russian-born billionaire stated in a press release published just days after his arrest: “Some time ago, when I was asked this, [j’ai] helped personally [les autorités françaises] create a hotline with Telegram to address the terrorist threat in France. »
The place chosen for certain illegal activities.
Is this recent opening to requisitions relating to common law cases specific to France? “In fact, we have noticed that Telegram has been more cooperative lately”explains the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office. Other prosecutors’ offices and investigative services contacted by The worldincluding the US FBI, the German BKA and Canadian, Swiss and Dutch prosecutors, refused to confirm or deny this change of attitude by the courier service.
Ease of use, large number of users, lenient moderation, but above all relative discretion in the face of requests for information from the authorities: thanks to all these features, Telegram has become the preferred venue for certain illegal activities: the sale of drugs, first of all, but also weapons, counterfeiting, receiving stolen goods or even the distribution of child pornography.
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