Telegram continues to operate in Europe as it did before the pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that these events have strained its relations with several countries on the old continent. The application founded by Pavel Dúrov, arrested last weekend in France, is halfway between a social network and a messaging platform. It has a policy of zero intervention in users’ speech. Its moderation is practically non-existent. This has made it the main source of contagion of health disinformation during the coronavirus crisis and a strategic target of the Kremlin’s hybrid war campaigns.
Telegram also typically does not respond to requests for information from authorities or cooperate in legal proceedings. Before 2020, these features made it a useful tool for opponents of authoritarian regimes, as was the case during the Hong Kong protests in 2019. Dúrov built the system for this purpose after suffering surveillance and persecution by Vladimir Putin. The businessman had to go into exile from Russia in 2014 after being forced to sell VK (the Russian Facebook) for not disclosing the personal data of Ukrainian users to its security agencies.
The war, the pandemic and the growth of Telegram itself (it has about 950 million users, according to Dúrov, just under half that of WhatsApp) have changed this perception. The Dubai-based app remains a safe haven for those who want to escape the oppression of dictatorships, but also the justice of European countries. Its service is a hotbed of extremist activity and disinformation, as well as the official communication channel of organized crime gangs, such as large cybercriminal groups.
Far-right and conspiracy theories
According to a study by ISD, a London-based anti-extremism think tank, Telegram played a key role in organizing the recent riots in the UK by the far right against Muslims. “The modern far right is made up of diverse, sometimes contradictory movements, united by xenophobia and nativism. These groups connect through informal networks on social media platforms, Telegram being one of the main ones,” the report notes. Telegram has already been used in this way in Spain during the pandemic during violent protests by neo-Nazi and conspiracy groups, as documented by elDiario.es.
Today, these movements have sparked the worst wave of violence in the UK in a decade, with attacks on mosques and hotels known to host refugees. “ISD research has documented Telegram’s permissiveness towards extremist actors and materials, increasing its popularity among far-right communities since 2020. While Telegram lacks algorithm-based exposure, it does function as a safe space for extremists to coordinate their activities and incite violence,” the institute continues.
A few months later, it was Spain that had it in its sights. The National Court was about to close the application in Spain for lack of cooperation in an investigation into copyright violations. After decreeing its precautionary block on Friday night, Judge Santiago Pedraz lifted it on Monday morning just before it came into force. The magistrate corrected himself and understood that the measure was “disproportionate” for the rest of Spanish users (around 8.5 million), but the event gives an idea of how far Telegram is willing to push its policy of non-intervention.
Finally, it was in France that the glass overflowed. The French justice system arrested Dúrov this Saturday at Paris-Le Bourget airport, where his private plane had landed from Azerbaijan. The lack of moderation and collaboration with the justice system makes him and Telegram an accomplice, with the French prosecutor accusing him of complicity in twelve crimes such as drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography, fraud and association with criminal gangs.
Although warnings such as that of the Spanish National Court had already anticipated that this lack of collaboration could have serious repercussions for Telegram, the arrest of Dúrov (who has dual Russian and French nationality) is an unprecedented measure in the field of social networks. There has never been an arrest of the head of a platform of this magnitude, although Telegram is not the only one against which there is evidence that it is used to commit serious crimes, such as child abuse or drug trafficking, nor the only one that obstructs requests for information from foreign authorities.
Telegram, for its part, has rejected the accusations against Dúrov, who it said “has nothing to hide and travels frequently across Europe.” “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of this platform,” it said in a statement: “Telegram complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act: its moderation is in line with industry standards and is constantly improving.”
International reaction and Macron’s message
Figures associated with the new extreme right, such as Nigel Farage (leader of the Brexit party), Elon Musk or Tucker Carlson (host fired from Fox News for spreading the hoax that Donald Trump had suffered electoral fraud against Joe Biden in 2020) have denounced Dúrov’s behavior. arrest and accuse French President Emmanuel Macron of ordering his arrest for political reasons. In Spain, people from this spectrum have joined this discourse, such as the ultra agitator Alvise Pérez or Juan Ramón Rallo.
Edward Snowden, who has exposed US mass surveillance practices and is currently in exile in Russia, said that “Dúrov’s detention is an attack on the fundamental human rights of expression and association.” “I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron went so far as to take hostages to access private communications. This degrades not only France, but the world,” he tweeted.
Such publications have provoked a reaction from the French president, who published a statement on the social network on Monday afternoon: “France is more than anything attached to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation and entrepreneurship. This is how it will continue to be. In a state governed by the rule of law, on social networks as in real life, freedoms are exercised within a framework set by law to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights,” he declared.
“It is up to the justice system, in complete independence, to enforce the law. The arrest of the president of Telegram on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide,” concluded the French president.
But there are also silences in the list of international reactions. The main international organizations defending digital rights and fundamental freedoms on the Internet have not taken a position on this arrest. Neither the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), nor Privacy International, nor Access Now, nor European Digital Rights, nor other NGOs such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch have made any statement regarding Durov’s arrest.
Access Now sources explained to elDiario.es that they preferred not to make any statements on the subject until they knew the details of the French accusation. They also remember the chiaroscuro that has accompanied Telegram for years: “Pavel Dúrov must put his money where his mouth is and invest in human rights in all areas,” Natalia Krapiva, one of the coordinators of this organization, said in 2023: “For too long, the company has relied on its reputation, rather than working proactively to improve the technical and practical measures that will guarantee the security of communications for some of the most exposed people in the world.”
