Telegram, which Durov launched in 2013 with his brother Nikolai, now boasts 950 million users, up from 550 million in 2022, the company, however, defended itself, stating, “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform”
Telegram, a popular messaging platform, is facing intense scrutiny in India as it becomes a hotspot for various criminal activities. From leaked exam papers and child pornography to stock market manipulation and extortion, the platform has drawn comparisons to the dark web, according to cyber experts and law enforcement officials.
The controversy surrounding Telegram intensified when its CEO, Pavel Durov, was detained in France on Saturday. He is accused of inadequate efforts to curb criminal activities on the platform, including the spread of child sexual abuse material. The Paris prosecutor’s office stated on Monday that the investigation into Durov is focused on crimes related to illicit transactions, child pornography, fraud, and refusal to cooperate with authorities.
Telegram, which Durov launched in 2013 with his brother Nikolai, now boasts 950 million users, up from 550 million in 2022. The company, however, defended itself, stating, “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
Rising Concerns In India
Recent incidents in India highlight the misuse of Telegram across different sectors. On July 24, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) exposed a stock-price rigging scheme operating through Telegram. The owner of a Telegram group was indicted for receiving ₹20 lakh in commissions from associates of a steel sheet manufacturing firm.
In another case, two men from Bhopal were arrested on May 3 for duping a local doctor out of ₹38 lakh. They used Telegram to impersonate police officers and conduct a fake interrogation.
The platform was also implicated in the UGC-NET exam scandal on June 19, 2023, when a question paper leak led to the exam’s cancellation. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan confirmed the leak, stating, “We tallied the questions with the original UGC-NET questions, and they matched… All these activities took place on Telegram these days. It is a challenge to track the complex nature of Telegram without a high-level investigation.”
In another incident, many NEET-UG applicants received exam questions via Telegram a day before the exam on May 3, 2023, leading to a federal investigation and Supreme Court intervention.
Law Enforcement Challenges
A senior officer from the Delhi Police cybercrime unit described how Telegram has become a breeding ground for scams. “One of the most rampant scams on Telegram is investment fraud,” the officer said. “A user is added to a group and is persuaded to invest in stocks through a fake app that mirrors a legitimate stock trading platform. This scam is where most people are losing their money.”
The officer also mentioned that Telegram’s anonymity features, such as hiding phone numbers and showing only usernames, make it difficult for law enforcement to track criminals. “Whenever we reach out to Telegram, they provide the last login’s IP address, which is often of little help,” he added.
Two government officials revealed that Telegram cooperates with Indian agencies in only about 20% of cases, making it challenging to retrieve data.
Rakesh Maheshwari, former head of the Ministry of Electronics and Technology’s cyber laws division, noted Telegram’s reluctance to comply with regulatory requirements. “Telegram was, on occasions, reluctant to cooperate,” he said. “They would generally comply with Section 69A blocking orders but were unwilling to act on other grievances, even if the content appeared illegal or harmful.”
Issues With Content Moderation & Transparency
Telegram has also been criticized for its lack of transparency. Despite the IT Rules 2021 requirement, Telegram does not officially publish a monthly transparency report. Attempts to obtain such reports through Telegram’s @transparency bot yielded no results.
In response to concerns about child abuse material, a Telegram spokesperson stated that such content is “explicitly forbidden” by the platform’s terms of service. The spokesperson added that Telegram’s moderators actively patrol public parts of the platform to remove violative content, citing a report of 1,650 groups and channels related to child abuse being banned on August 25, 2024.
Encryption Concerns
There is a common misconception that Telegram is end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) by default. However, cryptographic experts have questioned the security of Telegram’s E2EE algorithm. Debayan Gupta, an assistant professor of computer science at Ashoka University, said, “I would not pass its E2EE algorithm in a security audit.”
Telegram claims that only its “Secret Chats” are E2EE, while all other communications, including group messages and channels, are protected by “client-server” encryption. This means Telegram has access to the content on its servers, much like other social media platforms.
A Platform For Cybercriminals?
Anand Venkatanarayanan, co-founder and CTO of DeepStrat, criticized Telegram as a platform tailored for cybercriminals. “Telegram is social media for cybercriminals masquerading as a messaging platform with absolutely no content moderation,” he said, comparing it to the infamous Silk Road dark web marketplace.
He also highlighted the platform’s role in enabling crime through its bot functionality and API access. “For instance, a bot can be used to get specific personal information from a breached database,” Venkatanarayanan explained.