Another country launches investigation against Telegram: What’s going on

An investigation has begun against Telegram in South Korea on similar charges brought against the messenger in France.

Yonhap News Agency, citing the police, reported that the platform is accused of aiding and abetting sexual crimes. The head of the South Korean National Police Investigation Agency, Woo Jong-soo, said that Telegram is not providing the data necessary for the investigation, including account information.

Yonhap notes that this is the first investigation against Telegram in South Korea. It concerns eight bots that generate fake materials with sexual content and channels that distribute these images. From Aug. 26 to 29, the police received 88 complaints and identified 24 suspects.

South Korean law enforcement officials want to cooperate with French authorities. According to them, a similar problem worries representatives of other countries, including the United States.

Telegram Blocked in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe also reported after the investigation began in France, citing a statement by Indonesian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi, that Indonesian authorities are considering blocking Telegram in the country.

The minister said that the authorities are concerned about the spread of illegal content on Telegram, including the alleged involvement of Pavel Durov’s project in promoting online gambling and distributing pornography.

“I would prefer to shut down Bigo Live and Telegram immediately, but a team needs to conduct further studies first.”

According to him, the Indonesian government has repeatedly approached Telegram representatives and the team of another live-streaming app, Bigo Live, asking them to improve content moderation. However, the companies must still implement more effective measures to meet the country’s regulator’s requirements.

The investigation against Telegram in France

Telegram founder Pavel Durov was detained in France. He has been charged with conspiracy in sexualized violence against children, drug trafficking, and several other crimes that were committed thanks to the ability to remain anonymous on Telegram.

After four days in custody, Durov was released on bail of €5 million, banned from leaving France, and ordered to report to the police twice a week.

Telegram stated that the platform’s moderation meets standards, the messenger team complies with EU laws, and blaming the platform’s founder for user abuses is absurd.

New details of Durov’s interrogation

Earlier, the French newspaper Liberation, citing a source close to the investigation, reported that Durov, during interrogation in Paris, said that he had communicated with representatives of the General Directorate of Internal Security of the French Ministry of the Interior.

The publication claims that the messenger’s founder allegedly said that he opened an official communication channel with French counterintelligence as part of the fight against terrorism. This concerns a certain “hotline” and a special email address. The exchange of information via this communication channel made it possible to prevent several terrorist attacks.

According to Liberation, Durov expressed his willingness to cooperate with law enforcement agencies after his arrest and gave them his phone with the access code to it.

However, the information presented in the Liberation publication has not been officially confirmed. Representatives of the French investigation and Pavel Durov did not comment on it.

Telegram accumulates crypto assets

According to the Financial Times (FT), Telegram held about $400 million in cryptocurrencies in 2023. FT, citing financial documents, added that in 2024, the messenger sold Toncoin (TON) worth more than $244 million.

In addition, last year, the company received revenue of $342 million, operating losses of $108 million, and total losses of about $173 million after taxes. Telegram also raised about $2.4 billion in debt financing, maturing in 2026.

Telegram’s crypto initiatives continue to develop

Telegram’s cryptocurrency initiatives began to develop especially rapidly after Durov again spoke about creating decentralized financial instruments based on the social network in December 2022. He revealed the tools for trading and storing cryptocurrencies. The team’s plans included creating non-custodial crypto wallets and decentralized exchanges.

Durov’s initiative responded to the collapse of the centralized crypto exchange FTX in November 2022. He believed that the crypto industry should return to its decentralized roots. The developer should have specified when the messenger’s new tools would appear on the market.

“We, developers, should steer the blockchain industry away from centralization by building fast and easy-to-use decentralized applications for the masses. Such projects are finally feasible today.”

Since then, Telegram has begun actively strengthening its presence as a tool for cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (defi). The messenger now has its cryptocurrency wallet, mini-games for earning cryptocurrencies, and more.

After Durov’s arrest in France, the community had concerns about the messenger’s further development. However, the Telegram team concluded they had a plan in case of force majeure.

What will happen to Telegram?

The concerns about the messenger are primarily related to the problem of content moderation, which is why, according to the authorities, the messenger is actively used by criminals.

After the accusations in France, the authorities of other countries may follow suit and begin to analyze Telegram’s activities more actively. However, no other charges have been brought against Durov yet.