The head of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been charged by the French judiciary for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app but avoided jail after posting €5 million for bail. Durov, who has French citizenship but lives in Dubai, was released on the condition of reporting to a police station twice a week and remaining in France. The charges against Durov include complicity in the spread of sexual images of children and other alleged violations on the messaging app. His arrest has sparked debate over free speech and government censorship. Telegram has been closely monitored by law enforcement agencies worldwide due to its alleged use by terrorist organisations, drug traffickers, arms dealers, and far-right extremist groups for communication, recruitment, and coordination. A related piece in The Hill questions what this could mean for US companies.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times (£) reports that the EU is investigating whether Telegram has violated requirements under the Digital Services Act (DSA) by allegedly providing inaccurate user numbers. EU authorities suspect that Telegram may have understated its presence in the EU to avoid stricter regulations applicable to larger online platforms. The investigation coincides with the French probe into alleged criminal activities on the platform, which led to Durov's arrest. Telegram had claimed to have 41 million users in the EU in February, but it failed to provide an updated number this month as required under the DSA. The failure to provide accurate data may put Telegram in breach of the DSA, and it is anticipated that the EU's investigation will reveal the actual number to be above the threshold for "very large online platforms (VLOPs)."
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