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

An investigation has been launched into Telegram in South Korea following similar allegations made against Telegram in France.

The platform has been accused of aiding and abetting sexual crimes, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing police. South Korea’s National Police Investigation Agency head Woo Jong-soo said Telegram did not provide data needed for the investigation, including account information.

Yonhap notes that this is the first investigation into Telegram in South Korea, involving eight bots that produced fake sexually explicit material and channels that distributed the images. Police received 88 complaints between August 26 and 29 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

The Jakarta Globe also reported that Indonesian authorities were considering blocking Telegram in the country, citing a statement by Indonesian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi following an investigation launched in France.

The minister said that authorities are concerned about the spread of illegal content on Telegram, including allegations that Pavel Durov’s project promotes online gambling and distributes pornography.

“I would prefer to shut down Bigo Live and Telegram immediately but a team needs to do more work first.”

According to him, the Indonesian government has repeatedly appealed to Telegram representatives and the team of another live streaming app, Bigo Live, to improve content moderation, but the companies should continue to implement more effective measures to meet the requirements of the country’s regulator.

Investigation into Telegram in France

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been arrested in France, charged with conspiracy to sexually abuse children, drug trafficking and a host of other crimes committed through his ability to remain anonymous on Telegram.

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

Telegram said the platform’s moderation was up to standard and its messaging team complied with EU law, adding that it was absurd to hold the platform’s founder responsible for user abuse.

New details regarding Durov’s interrogation

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

The publication claims that the founder of the messenger claimed that he opened an official communication channel with the French counterintelligence in the context of the fight against terrorism. This is related to a certain “hotline” and a special e-mail address. The exchange of information through this communication channel made it possible to prevent many terrorist attacks.

Durov said he was willing to cooperate with law enforcement after his arrest and gave them the access code to his phone, Liberation reported.

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 this matter.

Telegram is accumulating crypto assets

According to the Financial Times (FT), Telegram had around $400 million worth of cryptocurrencies in 2023. Citing financial documents, the FT added that the messaging app sold more than $244 million worth of Toncoin (TON) in 2024.

The company also had $342 million in revenue last year, an operating loss of $108 million, and a total loss after taxes of about $173 million. Telegram also secured about $2.4 billion in debt financing due in 2026.

Telegram’s crypto initiatives continue to evolve

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

Durov’s initiative emerged in response to the collapse of 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 messaging app’s new tools would appear on the market.

“We, developers, must move the blockchain industry away from centralization by building fast and easy-to-use decentralized applications for the masses. Such projects can finally be implemented today.”

Since then, Telegram has begun to actively strengthen its presence as a tool for cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (defi). Messenger now has a crypto wallet, mini-games for earning cryptocurrencies, and more.

After Durov’s arrest in France, the community became concerned about the further development of the messenger, but the Telegram team concluded that they have a plan in case of force majeure.

What will happen to Telegram?

Concerns about Messenger are primarily related to the issue of content moderation. According to authorities, it is actively used by criminals for this reason.

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