Is the US Going After Telegram Too? : NPR

JUANA SUMMERS, HOSTESS:

The app Telegram has been in the spotlight since its founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested by French authorities over the weekend. Durov remains in custody, facing questioning over Telegram’s alleged refusal to comply with law enforcement requests. As NPR’s Bobby Allyn reports, it’s a problem on Telegram that security activists and researchers have been calling attention to for years.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: First, some background on Pavel Durov — he became known as Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg after he founded a social network in 2006 that was inspired by Facebook. Vladimir Putin’s allies took over, and in 2013 Durov started Telegram as a secure way to communicate outside the Kremlin’s reach. Here he is again in April, talking to Tucker Carlson about the philosophy of Telegram.

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PAVEL DUROV: We apply the rules equally to all parties. We do not get biased in this way. It is not that we cheer for the opposition…

TUCKER CARLSON: Right.

DUROV: …Or we support the ruling party. It’s not that we don’t care, but we think it’s important to have this platform that is neutral for all voices.

ALLYN: This anything-goes approach has drawn more than 900 million people to the app. But it also led to Durov’s arrest over the weekend. French authorities have arrested Durov and are continuing to question him as part of an investigation into the distribution of illegal drugs and child abuse content on the app.

For Benjamin Bull, it was high time. He is the general counsel of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. It is a non-profit organization that fights against child abuse material, also known as CSAM.

BENJAMIN BULL: You can find child pornography, CSAM, on X, on TikTok, on all the major internet platforms. But Telegram is a world of its own.

ALLYN: Researchers at the center have found that Telegram is the app where the most child abuse material is distributed. Efforts to stop this have failed for years.

BULL: Telegram has refused to cooperate with us. The more we approach them, the more they refuse to respond. They feel like they are above the law. They feel like they can do whatever they want.

ALLYN: Bull hopes Durov’s arrest will change that. He’d like to see tougher action against the app in the U.S. Telegram is based in Dubai. That could complicate matters, says Seth Goertz, a former prosecutor at the Justice Department who focused on cybercrime.

SETH GOERTZ: When I was at the DOJ, you know, Telegram doesn’t cooperate or abide by government process. They don’t have to. They’re outside of it.

ALLYN: Non-compliance – that’s the first hurdle. But another would be proving the case. Goertz says, yes, there’s enough criminal activity on Telegram, but it’s not enough to prosecute Durov.

GOERTZ: What you need more is evidence that Telegram executives and decision makers are aware of this criminal behavior and are taking steps to facilitate and protect against it.

ALLYN: He’s watching the French case to see if the prosecutors in Paris can show that. On the other hand, he says there are legitimate concerns about not restricting freedom of expression.

GOERTZ: It’s a huge lifeline for some people who live in states where the controls are tight, because the encrypted platform allows people to communicate in ways that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to, and to provide security in ways that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. And that’s what makes Telegram such a tricky situation.

ALLYN: And Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has long leaned into this framework — that the app has helped protesters and dissidents organize. But on the other hand, investigators say it has also helped terrorist organizations like ISIS recruit members. Telegram, for its part, issued a statement saying it’s absurd to blame a platform owner for those who abuse the platform. The company also insists it complies with all European Union laws. French authorities say Durov will either be charged with a crime and held in prison longer, or not charged and released on Wednesday.

Bobby Allyn, NPR News.

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