Brussels (Brussels Morning) – The EU Commission entrusts Belgium’s BIPT with monitoring Telegram to combat illegal content. Telegram, with 700 million users globally, faces scrutiny for potential extremist use despite its founders’ emphasis on freedom.
The European Union has given the Belgian telecom watchdog BIPT the assignment of monitoring the messaging app Telegram. Popular among political extremists, criminals and terrorists Telegram is considered as contentious. The European Commission wants to take powerful action to curb the mass of illegal content on Telegram. It has provided the Belgian Institute of Post and Telecommunications (BIPT) with the task of supervising the app.
Telegram was designed in 2013 by two Russian brothers and claims to have at least 700 million active users worldwide. In Europe, there would be about 40 million. “For us, Telegram is an idea,” stated one of its founders, Pavel Durov, in 2018. “The idea that everyone on this planet has the right to be free.”
What makes Telegram a contentious platform in Europe?
There are also reports that the through-the-app communication channel of terrorist groups has operated for years. Islamic State advised followers to utilise Telegram not long after its founding. Telegram is taking measures against these terrorist messages, which are often distributed via automated bots. In recent months it has intercepted several Hamas propaganda channels, but the basic principle of ‘free communication’ remains sacred.
The Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) will become the supervisory regime for this controversial app. It will even be liable for the whole of Europe.
How will complaints regarding unlawful content on Telegram be handled by BIPT?
“Suppose someone in the Netherlands is in a Telegram channel that calls for violence against a synagogue or mosque and sends a report to Telegram but finds that nothing is done about it, he or she can file a complaint with BIPT,” states Mathias Vermeulen of the data rights office AWO.
This principle involves all persons or institutions between Lisbon and Helsinki who identify that there is unlawful content on Telegram. If the app does not comply with the rules, BIPT can impose a penalty.
“That supervision will be quite a job,” Vermeulen hopes. “Telegram is the platform that collaborates the least with governments, and compared to other apps, a lot is possible. In Germany, it has been under fire for years because there is a systematic failure to respond to questions and injunctions from the police regarding, for example, channels for arms trafficking or coordinated actions against refugees.”
What is the significance of the European Digital Services Act (DSA) in regulating platforms like Telegram?
Supervision of Telegram came to Belgium as a result of the European Digital Services Act (DSA). This set of regulations came into full force in February and should give Member States more control over social media and other online services, including by managing how they moderate content themselves.
According to those rules, social media must also be characterised in Europe. Telegram, based in Dubai, has designated the Belgian company EDSR as its European representative. As a result, the Belgian telecom regulator BIPT becomes competent.
When asked for a reply to his appointment by Telegram, EDSR mainly refers to the European rules, which suggests that they become the point of contact. Telegram itself did not yet respond to queries that Press sent to its press channel last. In a standard response, it does note that it played a role in pro-democracy protests in Iran, Russia and Hong Kong.
BIPT is still waiting for its official appointment as a competent authority. “That should be the case within a few days, with an announcement in the Staatsblad,” spokesperson Jimmy Smedts stated. “Most of the monitoring of Telegram can take place from then on.”
