Telegram, an app for propaganda or impartiality?

The Israeli army and Hamas have consistently announce their actions via Telegram since October 7, and will likely continue to do so. 

 Telegram, a messaging app and social network that bypasses state censorship, has become the favorite communication channel of both camps. Known as Daesh's favorite app, Telegram is now used by institutions. politicians, and individuals across the spectrum. This includes dissidents and criminals, who use the app to escape the authorities or facilitate trafficking.

The popular social messaging app was created by Russian brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, who opposed Vladimir Putin and fled Russia. Ten years since its creation, Telegram has especially won over those who fear intrusion.

The app's advantages include secure encryption, complete anonymity and a commitment to the data security of users. The app has more than 700 million active users.  Messages can be broadcast to groups that have up to 200,000 subscribers and can be viewed by everyone, free of charge.

With its headquarters in Dubai, Telegram has sheltered itself from state moderation rules. Meanwhile, the European Union and the United States are pressuring social and messaging platforms to censor illegal content.

The Durov brothers and their team almost never appear in public. Some authorities are not happy with how the app is run. So much so that at the end of 2022, former French MP Laetitia Avia and lawyer Rachel-Flore Pardo publicly called for “an end to Telegram’s impunity."

Mass registration of Israelis and Palestinians

Telegram hosts everything, including hate speech, neo-Nazi rhetoric, pedophilia, conspiracy theory and terrorist activity.  In 2022, UNESCO found that half of the content on Telegram related to the Holocaust is in fact Holocaust denial. On Telegram, one finds the most gruesome videos of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including images of assassinations or hostage takings posted by Hamas, an organization banned from major platforms like X (previously Twitter).

Israelis and Palestinians understand it as the primary source of raw information. “Hundreds of thousands of people are registering on Telegram from Israel and the Palestinian Territories,” Pavel Durov wrote on his blog on October 8.

“A lot of the most shocking videos first come from Telegram and then make their way to mainstream platforms. Terrorist organizations use it extensively. We see a lot of drone images there,” underlines French social media expert Tristan Mendès France. “We choose Telegram for its confidential side. You cannot search for a keyword there, you must know the existence of the loops you are looking for or be invited to do so. It’s a community tool for insiders,” he said.

Criminals are even leading the dark web for Telegram, explains Julien Metayer, expert in Osint (open source information search). “Former darkweb forums have switched to Telegram. Accessible by invitation, these have become mini-websites where a lot of files are exchanged. They auction stolen data there, you can even order a hitman there,” added Metayer.

Exempt from moderation

Until now, Telegram seemed exempt from moderating violent content. At most, the app has taken down  sensitive posts. Some anti-vax accounts that called for attacks on doctors were taken down for instance. Overall, Telegram does not impose “local restrictions on freedom of expression,” as has been specified in the app's description.

On October 13, Pavel Durov notably defended the maintenance of Hamas accounts. “Earlier this week, Hamas used Telegram to warn civilians in Ashkelon [in Israel] to leave the area ahead of their missile strikes. Would shutting down their channel help save lives – or put more lives at risk?" 

However, on Monday evening, Telegram blocked a Hamas account that broadcasted the video of a Franco-Israeli hostage. However, the account was only blocked in Europe. “This channel cannot be displayed because it violated local law,” the network announced.

The European Commission clarified that it did not intervene in this case, since Telegram is not considered one of the “large platforms” subject to censorship obligations by the European DSA (Digital Services Act).