The CEO of Telegram was recently arrested, bringing the platform's criminal associations into the spotlight.
The Wall Street Journal, citing interviews with law enforcement officials and cybercrime researchers, reported that this messaging app has become the "go-to" platform for people looking for weapons, stolen data, illegal drugs, and materials for laundering money from illegal gambling.
The report notes that the platform combines messaging and social networking, is easy to use, claims to have never disclosed user data to any third party, and adopts a "laissez-faire attitude" towards content moderation.
Last month, French authorities arrested Telegram founder, Russian-born billionaire Pavel Durov, accusing him of spreading child pornography, illegal drugs, and hacker software on the app, as well as refusing to cooperate with investigations into illegal activities on the platform.
The company issued a statement saying it complies with European laws, including the Digital Services Act, and that its moderation is in line with industry standards.
The company wrote on X: "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner should be responsible for misuse of the platform. Nearly 1 billion users globally use Telegram as a means of communication and a vital source of information. We are waiting for a swift resolution of this situation. Telegram stands with you."
Durov told The Wall Street Journal that while Telegram is not perfect, it is also not "some kind of anarchist paradise," and added that the company is willing to engage in dialogue with regulators.
The report, citing chat logs and researchers, said that drug dealers, pedophile rings, and identity thieves use Telegram as a "showcase" to sell their goods, including a channel that advertised a range of passports, identity cards, and selfies, which scammers could use to open fake bank accounts. When The Wall Street Journal challenged Telegram about the article, the channel was deleted.
Earlier this year, PYMNTS discussed with Intellicheck CEO Bryan Lewis the difficulty criminals have in stealing personal identities. Raw materials are surprisingly cheap. Criminals and crime syndicates can purchase names, addresses, social security numbers, and emails for just $30 to $40.
Meanwhile, Lewis pointed out that treating everyone as a criminal is detrimental to businesses. He added that the key is to allow people to prove their identity in the simplest way possible.
"If you can determine whether a government-issued ID is genuine, that's the most important step," Lewis said. "After that, you can use facial recognition or something else, because now we have linked faces or voices to identities—you can create an immutable token."
