Telegram faces EU scrutiny over user numbers amid CEO Durov's arrest in France

Brussels is investigating whether Telegram breached EU digital rules by failing to provide accurate user numbers, as officials push to bring the controversial messaging app under stricter supervision.

EU legal and data experts suspect that the app has understated its presence in the EU to stay under a 45mn user threshold, above which large online platforms are subject to a swath of Brussels regulations designed to check their influence, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The EU probe comes alongside a wide-ranging French investigation into alleged criminal activity on Telegram that led to the arrest of its founder, Russian-born billionaire Pavel Durov, on August 24. 

Telegram has said Durov, who is now a French-Emirati citizen, has “nothing to hide”.

Telegram said in February it had 41 million users in the EU. Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), Telegram was supposed to provide an updated number this month but did not, only declaring it had “significantly fewer than 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU”.

The failure to provide the new data puts Telegram in breach of the DSA, two EU officials said, added it was likely the EU’s probe would find the true number was above the threshold for “very large online platforms”.

On August 24, French news outlets reported that Durov was detained at Le Bourget Airport near Paris after arriving on a private plane from Azerbaijan. A French judicial official confirmed that Durov's detention, initially set for 24 hours, could be extended up to 96 hours due to the severity of the accusations.

The arrest of Pavel Durov in France on charges related to the spread of illicit material on Telegram has ignited global concerns about media freedom and government censorship and sparked widespread debate, with figures like Elon Musk, owner of X, rallying support for Durov under the hashtag #FreePavel.

Critics argue that Durov's arrest could signal an escalation in government efforts to control online speech and gain access to user data. The Russian embassy in France has requested clarification, and there is growing concern that this incident could further strain relations between France and Russia.

Telegram has long been on law enforcement's radar due to its use by terrorist organizations, drug traffickers, weapons dealers, and far-right extremist groups. The French authorities may seek to compel Telegram to share information on criminal activities conducted via the platform, challenging the company's pledge to protect user privacy.