Telegram to be investigated for widespread criminality

WASHINGTON, DC (August 26, 2024) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) said Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was arrested in France, must be held accountable for the widespread criminality taking place on Telegram and called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the platform as well. Telegram was named to the 2024 Dirty Dozen List for being a haven for criminal communities around the world. Sexual torture rings, sextortion gangs, deepfake bots and more are all thriving on the platform at an alarming scale.

“It is high time that outlaw internet oligarchs are reined in to prevent them from profiting from the abuse of our children. Telegram is rife with child sexual abuse material and the manipulation of minors; it facilitates multiple forms of image-based sexual abuse, including deepfake pornography, non-consensual distribution of sexually explicit material, and sexual extortion. Telegram is so dangerous and such a threat to so many people that we believe it must be shut down, making it even more urgent and critical that “The CEO of Telegram is being held accountable for this widespread criminality. The only question now is why isn’t the U.S. Department of Justice involved?” said Benjamin Bull, general counsel for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

In a February 2024 study, Tech platforms used by online child sexual abuse perpetrators, Telegram was identified as the most popular messaging app used to ‘search, view and share CSAM’ by almost half of the perpetrators surveyed (46% Telegram, 37% WhatsApp).

“Telegram’s egregiously inadequate and/or nonexistent policies, coupled with an unyielding refusal to moderate content, directly facilitates and exacerbates sexual abuse and exploitation on the platform globally. Durov has designed Telegram to be nearly impossible to investigate or have content removed, even in response to requests from law enforcement — all the more reason why Telegram must be investigated. Facilitating criminal activity is not free speech,” Bull added.

Normally, when an entity is added to the Dirty Dozen List, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation provides recommendations for improvement and invites constructive dialogue to develop solutions to make the platform free of sexual abuse and exploitation. However, NCOSE does not trust Telegram to engage with any entity on safety issues, and the platform has not shown any substantive effort to stop the widespread criminality on the platform. Read NCOSE’s letter to Telegram’s CEO here.

About the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national, independent organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation, including child sexual abuse, prostitution, human trafficking, and the public health harms of pornography. https://endsexualexploitation.org/