Dark underbelly of billionaire Pavel Durov’s popular app Telegram

Damning reports and a billionaire CEO charged. This is the dark side of a popular messaging app with almost a billion users.

As millions of Australian parents welcome the prime minister announcing a social media ban to protect kids from apps including Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, damning reports have emerged about another hugely popular but perhaps less talked about app.

Messaging app Telegram, which allows groups of up to 200,000 people or channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences, has more than 950 million users worldwide.

While it is promoted as an alternative to rival WhatsApp, for anyone who wants “fast and reliable” messaging and calls, or businesses and teams who want to create groups and share files – in reality, Telegram has a dark underbelly.

The Wall Street Journal spoke to a “really scared” 21-year-old woman who discovered her images for sale on a Telegram channel advertising passports, identity cards and selfies “which swindlers could use to open bank accounts in victims’ names”.

The publication said the channel was taken down after it asked Telegram questions for the story, but claimed there were thousands more channels offering stolen identities – some offering bank accounts already set up with stolen details.

Meanwhile, British charity Internet Watch Foundation told WSJ it was common for newer websites selling child abuse material to direct people to Telegram to exchange financial details and make transactions.

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov. Picture: Steve Jennings / Getty Images North America / AFP

A four-month investigation by The New York Times claimed to find “1500 channels operated by white supremacists who co-ordinate activities among almost one million people around the world,” as well as at least two dozen channels selling weapons.

In at least 22 channels with more than 70,000 followers, the publication also found “MDMA, cocaine, heroin and other drugs were advertised for delivery to more than 20 countries”.

The bombshell reports come just weeks after Telegram founder and chief executive Pavel Durov was arrested at a French airport on August 24.

The Russian-born tech boss holds a French passport in addition to other nationalities. Forbes estimates his net worth to be about $US15.5 billion ($23 billion).

Following days of questioning, Mr Durov was charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram.

Last week, the 39-year-old broke his silence publicly saying France was wrong to hold him accountable for “crimes committed by third parties on the platform” and said doing so threatened new technologies.

“No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools,” he said in a statement.

He acknowledged Telegram wasn’t perfect but rejected the notion criminals were running rampant on the platform.

“The claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue. We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day,” he said.

He added: “Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”

Telegram has 950 million active users. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Mr Durov committed to improving moderation of the platform and issued a second statement further addressing this less than 24 hours later.

“While 99.999 per cent of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001 per cent involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk,” he wrote.

“That’s why this year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise.”

Mr Durov said Telegram had removed the “people nearby” feature, which allowed users to locate other Telegram users. He said it “was used by less than 0.1 per cent of Telegram users, but had issues with bots and scammers.”

In its place, Telegram is launching “businesses nearby” to showcase “legitimate, verified businesses.”

Mr Durov said Telegram had also disabled new media uploads to Telegraph, its stand-alone blogging tool, “which seems to have been misused by anonymous actors”.

Telegram instructs users to flag illegal content with its moderators by using the ‘report’ button on the app or email [e-mail] with links.

The New York Times said it analysed more than 3.2 million Telegram messages from over 16,000 channels as part of its investigation.

Rebecca Weiner, NYPD deputy commissioner for intelligence and counter-terrorism, told the publication that Telegram was “the most popular place for ill-intentioned, violent actors to congregate” and, “If you’re a bad guy, that’s where you will land.”

The report also said Mr Durov had made his first public statement on his arrest last week hours after being contacted by The New York Times with questions for their story.

It said while Instagram, YouTube and TikTok have thousands of moderators each, Dubai-based Telegram hired “just a few hundred contractors” who work as moderators.

“Telegram has benefited people in authoritarian countries who need ways to freely communicate, but the app has also contributed to real-world harm,” the report claimed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is cracking down on social media use among Aussie kids. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

PM confirms nationwide social media ban

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce a fast-tracked social media ban before the next election, which is due to be held in the first half of 2025.

“We know that technology moves fast. No Government is going to be able to protect every child from every threat – but we have to do all we can,’’ Mr Albanese said on Sunday.

“Parents are worried sick about this. We know they’re working without a map – no generation has faced this challenge before.

“Which is why my message to Australian parents is we’ve got your back. We’re listening and determined to act to get this right.”

The age limits and the start date have yet to be finalised for the nationwide ban but following South Australia’s proposed ban for kids under 13 and parental consent between the ages of 14 and 15 is an option.

The question of how to tackle younger teenagers who already have social media accounts is yet to be determined.

One of Telegram’s FAQs answered on its website is: “Can Telegram protect me against everything?”.

Telegram promises to offer secure communication and even has a feature called “secret chats”, which uses end-to-end encryption, meaning only the sender and the recipient can read the messages.

“But please remember that we cannot protect you from your own mother if she takes your unlocked phone without a passcode,” Telegram says.

“Or from your IT-department if they access your computer at work. Or from any other people that get physical or root access to your phones or computers running Telegram.

“If you have reasons to worry about your personal security, we strongly recommend using only secret chats in official or at least verifiable open-source apps for sensitive information, preferably with a self-destruct timer.”