The sudden arrest of Telegram co-founder, Russia-born Pavel Durov, after disembarking from a private jet in Paris last Saturday night has thrust the once-minor social network into the spotlight like never before.
Durov's arrest, following an investigation by the Paris prosecutor into organized crime, child sexual abuse images, fraud and money laundering on the platform, also raises the stakes for the European Union, which has enacted some of the world's most ambitious laws to police the internet, notably the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA, which will take effect in November 2022, targets online platforms that are, in EU Commissioner Thierry Breton's words, “too big to handle,” and requires internet companies to remove illegal content, protect children, and address disinformation and other online harms.
The European Commission has distanced itself from the French investigation into Durov. “This is a purely national criminal investigation being conducted by French authorities in accordance with French criminal law,” a spokesman said. “It has nothing to do with the DSA.”
But the charges against the 39-year-old tech billionaire have increased pressure on the European Commission and member state Belgium, which is responsible for regulating Telegram on behalf of the EU. “If there is really such a big problem with content moderation that it could lead to criminal cases, why hasn't it been addressed by the DSA yet?” said Jan Penfrat of the European Digital Rights Group (EDRi), a coalition of NGOs. “Of course, one possible answer is that the DSA is new, but it nevertheless puts some kind of pressure on the authorities.”
The hybrid messaging service/social network, with some 200,000 users, has been unsettling European politicians for months. Telegram is favored by pro-democracy activists in Russia, Hong Kong and Iran, but it's also a hangout spot for extremists, criminals, conspiracy theorists and pro-Kremlin propagandists. In Lithuania, police set up a special unit to monitor Telegram and other platforms in an attempt to thwart drug trafficking. Meanwhile, Dutch police told the country's public broadcaster they had received little cooperation from the platform after NOS journalists found 2.5 million messages encouraging drugs on the site in 2023.
United Arab Emirates-based Telegram has attracted nearly a billion users worldwide despite limited regulation, but now faces new demands under European law, even though it has just 41 million monthly active users in the EU.
Enforcement of the law could be a weak link in this chain: Belgium, along with five other EU member states, is currently the subject of EU legal proceedings for failing to authorize the Digital Services Coordinator, the body in charge of enforcing the DSA. The Belgian government has entrusted the enforcement of the DSA to the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications, but the agency does not have sufficient powers to launch an investigation into Telegram.
But Telegram could come under the direct jurisdiction of the EU executive. Until now, Telegram has not been subject to the toughest regulations that apply only to the largest platforms, such as Facebook's Meta and X, formerly known as Twitter. Under EU law, only platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users qualify as “very large online platforms” (VLOPs), subject to the toughest requirements and direct oversight by the Commission.
EU officials are unconvinced by Telegram's claim that its 41 million monthly active users in the EU puts it just below the threshold. “Telegram is a problem,” European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova told Bloomberg in May. “We're currently checking whether the figures are correct,” she said, referring to Telegram's popularity in eastern EU countries with large Russian-speaking minorities, adding that “even the smallest platforms can play a very dangerous role in some member states.”
A spokesperson for the committee said Tuesday that it was “carefully analyzing” Telegram's numbers, adding that “once a clear conclusion is reached, we will not hesitate to designate Telegram[as a VLOP]if it meets the criteria.”
Separate from ongoing discussions between the European Commission and Telegram, the platform has until the end of this month to publish its latest monthly user data in the EU.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but after Durov's arrest the company said it would “comply with EU law, including the Digital Services Act.”
Digital activists say Telegram needs to be more transparent. “An online platform of such importance with such a large user base is too important to operate with that level of opacity, even if it's not officially designated a VLOP,” said EDRi's Penfrat.
“The public needs to know what's going on and clearly regulators need to know in order to do their jobs.”
