EU investigates Telegram over user numbers

Brussels is investigating whether Telegram violated EU digital regulations by failing to provide accurate user numbers, as officials push to place the controversial instant messaging app under stricter regulation, the FT reports. EU legal and data experts suspect the app underreported its user numbers in the EU to keep users below the 45 million threshold, above which large online platforms are subject to a series of Brussels regulations designed to limit their reach. The EU probe coincides with a broader French investigation into alleged criminal activity on Telegram, which led to the arrest of its founder, Russian-born billionaire Pavel Durov, on Saturday. On Wednesday night, a magistrate judge will decide whether to bring charges or release him. Telegram said Durov has “nothing to hide.” Durov now holds French and UAE citizenship. Telegram said in February that it had 41 million users in the EU. Under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), Telegram was supposed to provide an update this month, but it didn't, announcing that its “average number of monthly active users in the EU is well below 45 million”. Two EU officials said the failure to provide the new figures puts Telegram in violation of the DSA, adding that an EU investigation could find that the true number is higher than the threshold set for “very large online platforms”. Such a designation brings with it greater compliance and content audits, third-party audits and mandatory data-sharing obligations with the European Commission.