Not alone General director Pavel Durov the company he founded could also be in hot water with the European Union. EU officials are investigating whether the platform lied about user numbers to avoid being regulated by the Digital Services Act ().
The European Commission’s department, the EU’s executive branch, the Joint Research Center, is conducting a technical investigation to determine Telegram’s real user numbers in the block. According to information, officials are also discussing the issue with Telegram . Thomas Regnier, the EC’s digital affairs spokesman, said: “We have a way of determining how accurate user data is through our own systems and calculations.”
Earlier this year, Telegram claimed to have 41 million users on the block. Although it is due to provide an updated figure this month, it said only that “average monthly active shoppers in the EU are significantly below 45 million”. Officials argue that Telegram’s failure to disclose the actual number is itself a violation of the DSA, which they believe the investigation will reveal is used by more than 45 million residents.
This number is significant because services with more than 45 million users (10 percent of the EU population) are defined as “very large online platforms”. These are subject to stricter rules under the DSA, with breaches punishable by fines of up to six per cent of a company’s annual revenue. Designated platforms must meet higher compliance and content moderation standards and share data with the EC. Third-party auditing is also a factor.
Telegram is said to be on the verge of breaking 1 billion users in total. Aside from China, the user base is “roughly proportional to the population of each market [or] continent,” said Durov FT .
French prosecutors on Wednesday during the ongoing investigation. he is accused of “participating in the hacking of child pornography, illegal drugs and software” on the encrypted messaging service Telegram and “refusing to cooperate with investigations into illegal activity.”
Who was Durov? He was released from prison after paying a bail of 5 million euros. The Telegram CEO, who acquired French citizenship a few years ago, is required to stay in France and check in at the police station twice a week until the investigation is concluded.
