The Russian Federation has expressed concern about the messaging app after the recent events in Moscow, calling for more control.
Last March 22, Russia was shaken by a serious and violent terrorist act carried out at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow.
Among the consequences of the attack on Crocus City Hall also came the Kremlin's exhortations aimed at Pavel Durovthe owner of Telegram.
The request was to pay more attention to the conversations that take place on the platform, since, according to intelligence bodies, it seems that the recruitment of terrorists took place via the popular application.
Telegram, headquartered in Dubai and with a team of around 50 employees, was founded in 2013 by Durov together with his brother.
Call to responsibility
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a recent interview with Russian media that there are currently no plans to block the app within the country, as was already happening in Spain.
However, he addressed a message to the CEO of Telegram regarding the events:
“Pavel Durov should show more attention, since this unique and extraordinary technological resource, which has grown before the eyes of our generation, is increasingly becoming a tool used for terrorist purposes.”
The RIA Novosti news agency reported that the terrorists involved in the Crocus attack were recruited via a radical Telegram channel belonging to ISIS-K.
One of the members of the attack reportedly personally confessed to having been recruited via the application.
Possible routes
In recent times, Durov had announced his intention to introduce AI-based chatbots to improve customer service and to invest in AI to address the numerous moderation issues on the platformoften criticized for its criminal and extremist content.
In response to this, Anton Gorelkin, a member of the Duma Committee on Information Policy, urged Durov to as soon as possible prove the effectiveness of these technologies in countering the use of Telegram by malicious groups.
A proposed suggestion would have been of prohibit receiving messages from unknown contacts that contain suspicious words.
Currently, no response has been provided from the Telegram founder.
The app, which has more than 900 million monthly active users, is generating significant profits through premium subscriptions and sponsored ads.
Pavel Durov, with citizenship in both the United Arab Emirates and France, is estimated to have assets of approximately $15.5 billion.
The CEO fled Russia in 2014 after refusing to share user data of VKontakte (VK), a Facebook-like Russian social network he founded, with the Russian security agency.
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