EU officials want to designate Telegram as a "very large online platform" in order to capture it in the bloc's newly imposed censorship rules. First, though, the EU has to figure out how many people actually use Telegram, which could be a challenge.
Anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg claims that Brussels reached out to Telegram with questions about its user base. In general, Telegram has said in the past that there are around 41 million active users every month, which is below the 45-million-user threshold established by the EU for regulation under the so-called Digital Services Act (DSA).
As of this writing, there are 19 "very large online platforms" that the European Commission classifies as needing regulation under the DSA. They include Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and a number of search engines, i.e., Google.
The terms of the DSA stipulate that all "very large online platforms" must label all of their advertisements while avoiding targeted ads based on "sensitive data" collected from users. Such data includes ethnicity, sexuality or political orientation.
Furthermore, the DSA requires that "very large online platforms" adhere to strict provisions to protect the "privacy, security, and safety of minors," which is entirely valid.
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Telegram won't cave to EU tyranny
Where the DSA goes very wrong is in its handling of "disinformation" and the "dissemination of illegal content." In order to "address the spread of disinformation," the DSA outlines a number of Orwellian requirements that interfere with free speech.
The text of the DSA mentions the word "disinformation" 13 different times, though not once is the word actually defined. Because of this vagueness, free speech activists are warning that the EU is using the DSA to stamp out "factually correct yet politically inconvenient narratives," to quote RT.
The DSA officially came into effect in early 2024 just in time for the upcoming election cycle both in the EU and in the United States. Platforms that operate in the EU can be fined up to six percent of their global annual turnover if they are caught not adhering to the DSA's restrictions.
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born owner of Telegram, has repeatedly stated that the privacy and free expression rights of his platform's users will always trump the paranoid demands of, in this case, unelected EU leaders who want to control everything.
In a recent interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, Durov stated that he continues to refuse requests for user data such as the kind coming from the EU. Durov also said that he will not allow the U.S. government to build so-called surveillance "backdoors" to spy on Telegram users.
"Like WhatsApp or Messenger, Telegram allows users to send private and group messages," RT reported. "Unlike its American competitors, it also allows users to set up 'channels' to disseminate news and updates to followers."
Ukraine is also upset about the free speech that takes place on Telegram. Top Ukrainian spy Kirill Budanov hates the fact that Telegram users can set up anonymous channels to publish information because much of it conflicts with the official narratives coming out of Kiev.
Statistics company SimilarWeb says Telegram is the number-one most popular messaging app in Ukraine. This is a "huge problem," according to Budanov, because it is interfering with the Volodymyr Zelensky regime's military plans against Russia.
The deep state is deathly afraid of Russia and what it might do if the global power structure changes. Learn more at Globalism.news.
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