Telegram flooded with illegal activity as CEO Pavel Durov monitored in France

An analysis by the New York Times of over 3.2 million Telegram messages from 16,000 channels revealed that 1,500 are run by white supremacists, two dozen are involved in selling weapons, and at least 22 channels advertise drugs like MDMA, cocaine, and heroin for delivery.

San Francisco: As Telegram Founder and CEO Pavel Durov remains in France under the close observation of local authorities, a media analysis has found that his social media platform is “inundated” with illegal and extremist activity.

The analysis by the New York Times of over 3.2 million Telegram messages from 16,000 channels found that 1,500 channels are operated by white supremacists, two dozen channels selling weapons, and at least 22 channels where MDMA, cocaine, heroin and other drugs were advertised for delivery.

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“Hamas, ISIS and other terror groups have thrived on Telegram, often amassing large audiences across dozens of channels,” the report claimed.

Telegram is “the most popular place for ill-intentioned, violent actors to congregate. If you’re a bad guy, that’s where you will land,” Rebecca Weiner, the deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism at the New York Police Department, was quoted as saying.

In a statement, Telegram said that “99.999 percent of our users” were lawful and the platform was making improvements to its features and moderation.

In an earlier post, Durov hit out at France, saying it was “surprising” he was being held responsible for other people’s content on the popular messaging app.

“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” he added. Durov also lashed out at claims that “Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise” as “absolutely untrue”, insisting: “We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day.”

Durov, 39, was charged after four days under arrest in France on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram. He has received support from fellow tech tycoon and chief executive of X, Elon Musk. He was granted conditional release on a bail of five million euros ($5.5 million) and on the condition that he must report to a police station twice a week as well as remaining in France.

An enigmatic figure who rarely speaks in public, Durov is a citizen of Russia, France and the UAE, where Telegram is based.