Telegram has become a global sewer of criminal activity, disinformation, child sexual abuse material, terrorism and racist incitement, found a four-month investigation by The New York Times that analyzed more than 3.2 million Telegram messages from over 16,000 channels. The company, which offers features that enable criminals, terrorists and grifters to organize at scale and to sidestep scrutiny from the authorities, has looked the other way as illegal and extremist activities have flourished openly on the app. The investigation found 1,500 channels operated by white supremacists who coordinate activities among almost one million people around the world. At least two dozen channels sold weapons. In at least 22 channels with more than 70,000 followers, MDMA, cocaine, heroin and other drugs were advertised for delivery to more than 20 countries. Hamas, ISIS and other terror groups have also thrived on Telegram.
Telegram's tolerance for toxic activities stems from its founder, Pavel Durov, a 39-year-old native of Russia, who operates the platform with a devout belief that governments should not interfere in what people say or do online. This year, he wrote on his Telegram channel: Were it entirely up to us, we would always give our users what they ask for: access to uncensored information and opinions so that they can make their own decisions. Even as Telegram approaches one billion users, it has prided itself on behaving differently from its tech peers. The company, based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, operates like a start-up, with about 60 full-time employees. It has hired just a few hundred contractors to work as moderators, and it steadfastly ignores most requests for assistance from law enforcement agencies. In contrast, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok have entire divisions dedicated to complying with law enforcement requests and thousands of moderators scouring their services for illicit and harmful material. Only Apple and Google, which can expel Telegram from their app stores, have successfully pushed the platform to take down and restrict the spread of harmful material, said analysts, government officials and tech executives.
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