The Belgian and French public prosecutors are joining forces in an investigation into Telegram. The messaging app has been under heavy fire for some time.
The federal prosecutor’s office confirmed to De Standaard that a joint investigation team around Telegram is being set up with the French court. By joining forces, the Belgian and French investigators can exchange information and coordinate actions. Both in Belgium and France, Telegram is under increased scrutiny.
The investigation by the Belgian prosecutor’s office has been ongoing since 2020. “In just about every investigation into, say, arms trafficking, the prize is the suspects use Telegram,” a spokesman told De Standaard. Through BIPT, the application is also officially under Belgian supervision.
Haven for criminals
That Telegram is popular in criminal circles is by now no secret. The reason is the messaging app’s sometimes far-reaching privacy policies. Telegram offers users many means of hiding in anonymity. From weapons and drug trafficking to even terrorist groups, authorities say it can all be done on Telegram.
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Belgian public prosecutor joins France in investigation of Telegram
Moreover, the messaging app has been accused of letting all that pass. Telegram has always denied this in previous written responses to ITdaily, though. The ground is quietly getting very hot under Telegram’s feet since the arrest of Pavel Durov in France last summer.
Collaboration
Since that incident, Telegram does seem to be more accommodating to authorities. Telegram boss Durov announced in August that Telegram will henceforth share IP addresses of criminal suspects when requested to do so. A striking change of course, since before that Telegram virtually never acceded to such requests, except in the very exceptional cases that involved terror suspects.
The company also insists that it does moderate content. According to Durov, the company employs a team of moderators assisted by AI. Durov even stated a few weeks after his arrest that much of the problematic content the company is accused of has since disappeared. However, the federal prosecutor’s office is keeping a lid on Telegram’s turnaround.