A widely used social media messaging app and platform, Telegram, has faced scrutiny after its founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was arrested in France on Saturday, August 24 over alleged criminal activities such as extortion and gambling. According to Moneycontrol, an Indian government official hinted that the social media platform could even be banned in the country depending on the investigation by probe agencies.
This comes after 39-year-old founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris over the app's moderation policies. Reports suggest he was arrested for failing to prevent criminal activities on its popular messaging app. "The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) (under MHA) and MeitY have been looking into P2P communications on Telegram," a government official told Moneycontrol on August 25 on condition of anonymity.
However, the messaging platform in its official statement said that it follows due process of European Union laws, including the Digital Services Act and the moderations are within it. It also states that its CEO has nothing to hide in this regard.
"Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving. Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe," the app stated on X (formerly Twitter).
"It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform," it wrote on X further. The platform blamed users for the information exchanged.
Also Read | Our CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide: Telegram on his arrest.
"Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information," said further.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are conducting a probe, to look into criminal activities such as extortion and gambling. The platform has more than 5 million users in India. However, the government official told Moneycontrol that the ban will depend upon the outcome of the investigation.
The popular app was in the news over the UGC-NEET paper lead case, which led to students' protests and forced the Supreme Court of India to interfere in the matter. The question paper for the medical entrance exam was leaked and was allegedly widely shared on Telegram, which is an encrypted messaging app.
The violations that I4C and MeitY are investigating are not related to the Information Technology (IT) Rules. "The platform is compliant with the IT rules," the official said. the official said. The investigation authorities are facing difficulties in probing the case the Telegram have no base in India. The absence of a local office hinders direct communication, complicating efforts to request user data.