Since its birth in 2013, Telegram It has become the digital communications platform for many activist and human rights groups, and has also enabled the emergence of secondary news channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the world.
Protected by what its founder and CEO, the Russian Pavel Durov, defined last April as “a neutral platform” that respects “privacy and freedom of people”, 950 million users trust Telegram to date. Durov himself assured in his channel of the application that it is the only platform for exchanging information that is completely reliable, since other similar platforms such as WhatsApp or Signal collaborate, for example, with the government of the United States.
But the B side of this neutrality is that paramilitary groups, terrorists, arms and drug traffickers or pedophiles They used it to share and sell criminal material. The Russian-origin platform is for many a champion of freedom of expression, yes; but it is also the abyss of the Internet where the worst species abound, without any control.
Pavel Durov, 39, founder of Telegram.
Telegram, for example, has become the preferred online platform for pro-Russian disinformation and propaganda groups in the context of the invasion of Ukraine. Political leaders such as Putin’s Chechen ally, Ramzam Kadirovor characters who claim to be censored by the media, such as Alvise Pérez. Finally, it has also been a refuge for pedophiles from all over the world, or for providers of pornographic images called “deepfakes” (made with artificial intelligence) in channels that reach up to 300,000 subscribers.
That is why, on August 24, Durov was arrested by the French authorities as soon as he got off his private jet at Paris’ Le Bourget airport. The French justice system has accused him of 12 charges, including: being complicit in authorizing illicit transactions within an organized grouphaving refused to communicate information or documents necessary for the performance of operations guaranteed by law, being an accomplice in the possession of pornographic images of minors or acquiring, transporting, possessing, offering and selling narcotic substances.
After paying a five million euro bail, the Russian tech guru was released. But his arrest sparked a heated debate about how Telegram works and the responsibility of platforms like Telegram for the content their users distribute or exchange. Famous Internet personalities such as Elon Musk or the American journalist Tucker Carlson They did not hesitate to defend Durov against what they consider to be a new attack on freedom of expression.
More privacy, more crime
What was born as an application exclusively dedicated to instant messaging, in the style of WhatsApp, It has evolved over time to become a kind of social network. This is how the platform itself is defined, which has become popular worldwide for its channels and groups, beyond the private exchange of messages between two users. In channels, a list of subscribers receives the content of the account they follow. In groups, all users participate in the same way, according to the rules of each administrator.
Unlike other services like WhatsApp or Signal, Telegram is not an end-to-end encrypted app. It only offers this possibility in secret chats if the participants enable the option. This means that Telegram servers have access to all content shared by its users.except for secrets. In the case of WhatsApp or Signal, since they are fully encrypted services, a request from the authorities would be futile, since they cannot access the data. But not in the case of Telegram.
“At first it was a totally secure network, until it was suspected that Russia was starting to erect barriers and give the Kremlin the ability to read everything,” explains Enrique Dans, professor of innovation and technology at the Instituto de Empresa (IE). The movement described by the expert contrasts with that Durov fled Russia in 2014when the country’s government demanded access to user content – particularly Ukrainian activists – on VK, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, which he also founded.
“At the time it was real, but in recent years Telegram has pursued a policy of rapprochement with the Kremlin and, on the contrary, of avoid the authorities of Western countries“, explains Dans. “In the case of the Meta networks, for example, the opposite is true: they collaborate with democratic governments but generally do not disclose their information if required, for example, by Saudi Arabia to investigate homosexual people.”
The fact that Telegram is not a fully encrypted service puts the platform in the spotlight: “Whether or not it is up to the company to provide the information requested by the authorities, the answer is yes, because it depends on the company policy and local laws. In Telegram, potentially having access to messages on their servers (always in non-secret chats), they could be forced to provide the data required by law,” explains Mario García, general manager for Spain and Portugal of cybersecurity company Check Point Software.
American journalist Tucker Carlson with Pavel Durov, in an interview in April 2024.
Under the pretext of Durov’s personal crusade for global freedom of speech, Telegram has acquired a reputation for not having a cooperative attitude with the authorities. For example, in the case of pedophilia, is the only online reporting service that does not report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (NMEC). This once again allowed pedophiles and other criminals to roam freely.
“Telegram has been criticized for not being as proactive in removing illegal content as other platforms“This perception allows groups involved in illegal activities to operate more freely than platforms with stricter content moderation policies,” García explains in this regard.
Furthermore, according to Garcia, “the Telegram’s less strict moderation policies means illegal content can persist longer on the platform, posing challenges to law enforcement and cybersecurity efforts.
Despite its lack of encryption in general terms, Telegram also has other features that make it a network more permeable to this type of illicit activitiesAccording to Garcia, unlike its main competitors, in addition to having a more lax moderation of content, the Russian network protects anonymity and has greater “resilience against censorship.”
“The design of Telegram prioritizes user anonymitymaking it easier for individuals to operate without revealing their identities. This can be a boon for legitimate privacy, but it also makes it harder to track and stop cybercriminals,” Garcia says. “Anonymous accounts, secret chats, and the ability to hide phone numbers make it an attractive option for criminal users concerned about privacy,” he adds.
On the other hand, he claims that “Telegram’s decentralized infrastructure allows it remain operational even in countries where it is prohibited and users can bypass restrictions through built-in proxy support, making it difficult for governments to effectively enforce bans.
In summary, the expert claims that the same features that make Telegram a privacy-friendly system “these are the same ones that can be exploited by cybercriminals”making it a platform for potential abusive behavior.
Responsibilities
After the arrest and the charges brought by the French justice system against Durov, Dans considers that a network like Telegram has a “a public responsibility in the same way as a media or a social network” with an impact on thousands of users.
Pavel Durov in a picture from his Instagram account.
“An ‘operator’ is not the same as a social network,” the professor clarifies. “An ‘operator’ is like a telephone operator; it’s as if we were saying that the CEO of Telefónica has a responsibility because two criminals communicate by telephone about illegal activities. But in the case of Telegram, and because of its evolution [hacia una red social], It cannot be said that it is simply a “carrier”“, he assures.
In Spanish and European legislation, platforms such as Telegram have defined responsibilities regarding the content that users generate and share. In the EU legal framework, in particular, within the framework of the Directive on electronic commerce and more recently, within the framework of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Services Act (DSA)Platforms are considered intermediaries and are generally not responsible for content created by third parties, provided they act with caution after becoming aware of illegal activities.
In this regard, García, the cybersecurity expert, says that the DSA “reinforces this responsibility by requiring that large platforms like Telegram take steps to reduce the risks associated with illegal content legislationas well as disinformation and other possible violations.
But the law also protects the platforms, since are not required to actively monitor all contentwhich is not technically possible and may violate fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and privacy.
“On the other hand, the platforms are required to respond positively to any notification regarding illegal content. This means that if Telegram receives a valid notification of criminal content on its platform, it must act quickly to remove or disable that content. If they do not, they could be held liable both in Spain and in the EU,” says García.
Although responsibilities can be established on Telegram for criminal activities committed under its aegis, Dans considers for his part that “It’s outrageous to arrest a CEO “Perhaps Durov did not do everything right, there will be conditions for collaboration with Russia, but accusing him of pedophilia, issuing an arrest warrant and arresting him as he gets off the plane is an exaggeration,” he says.
The expert interprets that the action of the French authorities against the founder of Telegram “rather seeks to intimidate the platform into being open to collaboration on communications of its users involved in illicit activities.”
