Pavel Durov arrest: Is Telegram the go-to app for terrorists?

The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in Paris is shining a spotlight on the app.

The dual citizen of France and Russia was taken into custody at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday evening after landing in France from Azerbaijan.

Durov, 39, was detained on an arrest warrant claiming his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offenses including supporting terrorism.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that Durov’s arrest was linked to “proceedings accusing Telegram of complicity in numerous cases linked to drug trafficking, support for terrorism and cyberstalking.”

But what do we know about Telegram? Why are authorities so worried about it? Is it the go-to app for terrorists?

Let’s take a closer look:

What do we know about Telegram?

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Telegram was launched by Durov and his brother in 2013.

The app was founded in the wake of the Russian government’s crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012.

The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital space, adopting regulations that forced internet providers to block websites and cellphone operators to store call records and messages that could be shared with security services.

As per Vox, the app claims to be a completely secure messaging platform.

The app, which has around 700 million users around the world, is known for its emphasis on users’ privacy.

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Its FAQ page states its mission as “protecting your personal data from third parties, such as marketers, advertisers, etc.”

As per Android Authority, Telegram’s USP is end-to-end encryption.

Meaning that no-one – not the government, not the police, not your boss – knows what you are sending on the app.

However, it must be noted that Telegrams only encrypts its calls and “secret chats.”

Another layer of security is that you do not need to give out your phone number to make contact with someone.

This can simply be done by exchanging usernames.

If you’re feeling queasy about giving out your username, you can even make contact with people via QR code.

Also, users can’t forward or screenshot messages in the “secret chats.”

Users can also simply set messages to self-destruct after sending – from a second after it has been sent to a week.

A message deleted by the user is removed for everyone.

Users can delete chats from others’ as well.

Though all chats are not end-to-end encrypted, they are encrypted nonetheless, as per the website.

Which is why many people are enticed to use the app.

“Its reputation is as the medium that can’t be decrypted,” Ahmet S Yayla, a counter-terrorism expert from George Mason University who has spent two years tracking ISIS on social media told Vox. “People love the idea of privacy.”

You don’t even need a SIM card to use Telegram.

Instead, you can buy a phone number from Telegram using its Toncoin crypto.

“The SIM card you use to open your Telegram account and the SIM card you actually use on the phone with the application don’t have to the same,” Yayla added. “So you can be the fakest person in the world.”

Is it the go-to app for terrorists?

The problem is that at least some of the people who are most interested in such privacy features are criminals – and terrorists.

ISIS in particular has repeatedly made use of the platform to organise attacks.

As per Vox, ISIS used Telegram as a way to push its propaganda after the 2015 attacks in Paris.

The terror group also recruited those who carried out the Christmas market attack in Berlin in 2016 on the app.

An ISIS leader in Raqqa also used Telegram to give instructions to the shooter in the New Year’s Eve attack at Istanbul’s Reina nightclub.

Though Telegram’s FAQ page lays out its attitude towards taking down illegal content including blocking terrorist bots, history shows this necessarily always the case.

Though Telegram claims to have taken down hundreds of ISIS accounts, experts say it is a drop in the bucket.

Jade Parker, a senior research associate at the TAPSTRI research group, told Vox, “You can create a new channel within 30 seconds. So now, instead of opening three channels, [ISIS] opens 50 channels to spread propaganda.”

“Deleting their channels doesn’t put a dent in their activity.”

“Telegram is not very reliable in shutting down these [ISIS-operated] channels,” Yayla added.

As per Cyfirma.com, ISIS militants continue to use the platform to recruit to its cause.

For example, its Telegram channels used alleged atrocities against women and children in the Al Hol camp to nab followers.

It later directed those followers to more radicalised content on other platforms.

These Telegram channels also serve as sources of cash – organising donation drives that are used to fund terror activities.

According to India Today, terror groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Resistance Front and the People’s Anti-Fascist Front also make use of Telegram frequently.

The groups not only list their targets and push their propaganda through these apps, but they also put up videos and images of their brutal attacks on India’s armed forces.

Sources told PTI that the IT Ministry has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs for an update on where things stand in the Indian context and if there are any violations here.

“In light of what has happened in France, IT Ministry has asked Ministry of Home Affairs to check on complaints pending against Telegram and what action can be taken.”

“The basic question here is are there any complaints, is there similar situation in India, and what is the status, and what action is required,” according to sources.

Telegram was also used during the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.

The official Hamas channel sent 1,145 messages through the app on 7 October itself, as per g-net research.

Uri Klempner, writing for Insight, singled out Telegram’s emoji feature to warn that the app had perpetuated extremism during and after the attacks.

“Emojis, by their very nature, are subjective and open to interpretation, and their presence in the context of news consumption may have unprecedented effects. Especially when juxtaposed with content that’s already sensitive and divisive, these symbols can influence a user’s perception, subconsciously nudging them toward a particular emotional response when faced with a piece of content,” Klempner wrote.

Klempner examined the concept of social influence – which proposes that people perceive public feeling through the lens of other users’ comments.

This, he argued, helps them form their own opinions – which often is in line with what they believe is public sentiment.

“Compounding the issue is the substantial reach of some of the Telegram posts. Many garner tens or even hundreds of thousands of views within hours of being posted. Yet, only a fraction of viewers might react using emojis (Note Fig. 5 where 0.08% of viewers reacted to the broadcast). This small minority inadvertently becomes the emotional compass for the majority, dictating how individuals will internalise and remember these images and videos and their emotional associations,” Klempner wrote.

Telegram itself has adopted a ‘don’t shoot the messenger attitude’ – literally.

In a blog post titled “Don’t Shoot The Messenger,” Telegram argued that terrorists would simply switch to ‘perfectly viable alternatives to the existing encrypted app.’

It remains to be seen how governments around the world react to Pavel’s arrest.

With inputs from agencies