Status: December 9th, 2021 7:30 p.m.
A large number of criminal content is distributed via the Telegram messenger service. For German authorities, the operating company is hardly tangible, as documents show that WDR, NDR and “SZ” are present.
By Florian Flade, WDR, and Georg Mascolo, NDR / WDR
In Dubai’s Al Kazim Towers, offices 2301 and 2303 on the 23rd floor, there is a company that some consider to be one of the most dangerous in the world. The headquarters of “Telegram FZ-LLC” are located here. The messenger service Telegram is one of the most popular social networks. Users can use this to communicate in encrypted form, and to exchange photos, videos and other data.
And there are numerous so-called channels there, on which hatred, agitation, racist and anti-Semitic content, conspiracy myths about Corona or Islamist terror propaganda are spread almost uncontrollably. Drugs or fake vaccination certificates are also offered via Telegram.
A fine threat in the desert
On April 28 of this year, the German Federal Office of Justice in Bonn sent an unusual letter with the file number VIII2 – 4090/2 – 6E – 7 – 0 – 1/2021 to Telegram’s address in the United Arab Emirates.
“Dear Sir or Madam,” says the letter, “as a provider of Telegram, you operate a social network with more than two million registered users in Germany.” Telegram is thus subject to the German Network Enforcement Act of 2017 and is obliged to block and report criminal content. Telegram did not meet this obligation. “The unlawful condition was proven by taking screenshots,” write the German officials. Now there is a threat of a fine of “up to fifty million euros”
The letter from Bonn is a desperate attempt by the German judiciary to get the communication platform to abide by the laws that apply in this country. Because Telegram has so far been barely accessible to authorities. For a long time it was unclear where the company actually resides, how many employees it has, what the company’s management team looks like and how much money is made with the messenger service.
A founder with a colorful past
Telegram is the inventor of the 37-year-old Russian Pawel Durow, who already set up the social network VKontakte in his home country with his brother. When the Russian authorities increased the pressure and tried to force the company to release data, Durov went abroad. At times he is said to have lived in Berlin and eventually founded Telegram.
Today Durow is considered a billionaire, his residence is in the United Arab Emirates, he is also a citizen of the Caribbean state of St. Kitts & Nevis.
A law-free zone?
Telegram has the reputation that no content is deleted or censored there – and that there is also no cooperation with government agencies. In countries such as Iran, Belarus or Syria, Telegram is also used by opposition and regime critics and is often considered to be indispensable for secure, anonymous communication.
However, the messenger service has long been a thorn in the side of German authorities: extremists and terrorists of the most diverse ideologies cavort there and, unlike on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, do not have to fear any deletion or identification.
For example, since the beginning of the pandemic, Telegram has been spreading confusing conspiracy stories, disinformation and fake news about the virus and vaccines. Some of the channels have tens of thousands of followers. Death threats and calls to assassinate politicians, scientists and journalists can also be found on Telegram, and in some cases private addresses and other personal information are disseminated.
Exchange about murder plans
Only a few days ago it became known through research by the ZDF magazine “Frontal21” that apparently radical opponents of vaccinations are said to have exchanged views in a Telegram chat group about plans to commit murder against the Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer. A group member allegedly claimed in a voice message that he had already armed himself and obtained ammunition. The State Criminal Police Office is now investigating the case.
The security authorities are convinced that some content that is freely exchanged and broadcast on Telegram contributes to the radicalization of the so-called “lateral thinkers”. There are also cases in which, for example, terrorist organizations such as the “Islamic State” (IS) have recruited and even instructed assassins via the messenger service. For example Anis Amri, the terrorist who raced into the Christmas market on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz in December 2016 in a hijacked truck.
Interior ministers want to increase pressure
The German authorities have long been trying to increase the pressure on Telegram. At the last conference of interior ministers in Stuttgart, the interior ministers of the federal and state governments adopted a declaration in which it said the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), which prescribes the deletion and reporting of hate speech and threats on platforms, urgently needs to be supplemented by “messenger services such as Telegram “.
The Federal Ministry of Justice has been convinced since the end of 2020 that Telegram is also subject to the NetzDG. Because the messenger service does not only serve the exchange between individual people, but also offers media services. Telegram, according to the letter from the Federal Office of Justice, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, is obliged to designate an “authorized recipient” in Germany, just like Google or Facebook. And it must provide users with a simple procedure to report criminal content.
Hope for administrative assistance
A letter from Germany was not only sent to Telegram in the spring. The authorities in Dubai also received mail. “In accordance with international principles of courtesy and reciprocity,” the letter says, asking the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Justice for legal assistance. According to the German Ministry of Justice, experience has shown that it will probably take some time to get an answer.
The officials in Bonn had given Telegram a two-week deadline for a response in their letter from April. Otherwise one would decide “according to the files” and would have to impose a fine. To this day there is no answer.