Brussels is investigating whether Telegram violated EU digital rules by failing to disclose accurate user numbers, while authorities are pushing for tighter oversight of the controversial messaging app.
EU legal and data experts suspect the app underreported its presence in the EU to stay below the 45 million user limit. Above that limit, large online platforms are subject to a series of Brussels regulations designed to limit their influence.
The EU investigation comes alongside a wider French probe into alleged criminal activity on Telegram, which led to the arrest of its founder, Russian-born billionaire Pavel Durov, on Saturday. A judge was due to decide on Wednesday evening whether to charge him or release him.
Telegram said Durov, who now holds French Emirati citizenship, had “nothing to hide.”
Telegram said in February that it had 41 million users in the EU. Under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), Telegram was required to provide an updated number this month, but it did not. The company simply said it had “significantly fewer than 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU.”
By refusing to provide the new data, Telegram is violating the DSA, two EU officials said, adding that the EU investigation would likely find that the actual figure was above the threshold for “very large online platforms.”
Such a classification entails stricter obligations regarding compliance and content moderation, as well as third-party auditing and the obligation to share data with the European Commission.
Telegram's popularity has exploded in recent years. The company offers encrypted messaging services as well as groups and broadcast channels used by world leaders and claims to have nearly 1 billion users worldwide.
Earlier this year, Durov told the Financial Times that Telegram's user base was “roughly proportional to the population of each market.” [or] continent”, with the exception of China.
Telegram did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the EU investigation.
The Commission's Joint Research Centre – the EU's internal data and science service – is conducting a technical study to determine the number of Telegram users in the EU, officials briefed on the study told the FT. At the same time, discussions are ongoing with the app about its own calculations.
“We can determine how accurate the user data is through our own systems and calculations,” said Thomas Regnier, spokesman for the Commission for Digital Affairs.
“And if we believe they have not provided correct user data, we can unilaterally name them [as a very large platform] based on our own investigation.”
The DSA rules for very large platforms came into force a year ago, forcing the world's biggest online players such as Instagram, Google and TikTok to hire thousands of people to work on compliance.
The rules include a ban on targeting users based on religion, gender or sexual preference, mechanisms that force platforms to disclose what steps they take to combat misinformation or propaganda, and new protections for minors. Due to the burdensome requirements, some platforms have taken legal action against these rules.
Durov has maintained ties to France since leaving Russia in 2014. He reportedly fled the country after refusing to comply with Moscow's demands for access to certain Ukrainian user data. He was granted French citizenship in 2021.
French President Emmanuel Macron had lunch with Durov in 2018, according to a person familiar with the situation.
“Macron constantly meets with CEOs and entrepreneurs to discuss deals and investments, so this happened in that context,” the person said, adding that the head of state and Durov had met “once or twice” but not in recent years. The lunch was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Additional reporting by Hannah Murphy in San Francisco
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