a criminal service? – Bits of Freedom

The accusations

France has leveled a series of accusations against Telegram, some of which are more troubling than others. In addition to accusations of complicity in criminal activity, likely related to the failure to respond to takedown requests, the French also appear to be accusing Telegram of essentially being an online platform for organized crime. On the face of it, and given what we now know, that’s a disturbing statement. Over the years, Europe has seen a series of encrypted app services disappear at the hands of law enforcement, such as EncroChat, Sky, and Exclu. In general, these apps have relatively low user numbers, are marketed by criminal organizations, and host almost exclusively criminal activities. Telegram is very different. It has almost a billion users from all over the world, and across a wide range of users. Governments, activists, families, organizations, and yes, even criminals use the app. But that doesn’t make the app a criminal service in itself.

Additionally, France appears to be accusing Telegram of offering a “cryptology” service and tool in France without proper “prior declaration”. France has regulations around offering and importing products that include encryption, in some cases requiring such a service to be reported to the authorities. It is unclear at this point whether the French accusation refers to, for example, an integrated crypto payment system or the end-to-end encryption that Telegram offers for (some!) messages.

Speaking of encryption, it’s worth keeping in mind that Telegram unfairly presents itself as a secure app. Yes, you can technically send encrypted messages, but the app doesn’t make it easy. End-to-end encryption is only available for one-on-one chats, and only if you turn it on yourself. It also requires that both parties in the conversation be online at the same time. Groups and channels, where much of Telegram’s illegal content is shared, are never encrypted. Telegram, and anyone who gains access to their infrastructure, can open those messages in plaintext.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about the allegations. But there’s no question that Telegram needs to get its act together. First, that means complying with takedown requests. Continuing to ignore them not only puts people at risk, it also gives governments more incentive to impose obligations on platforms that violate the privacy and freedom of expression of all users.

Again, it would be misleading to frame encryption as the problem here. Telegram is knowingly hosting illegal content, much of it openly, and needs to start complying with takedown requests. Limiting the availability of end-to-end encryption is neither necessary nor the solution.