Telegram to Pay a $5M Fine for Violating German Laws

Telegram combines a lot of features that make it so popular. It’s a messenger, a social network, a publishing platform, and a file exchange service – all in one. What it is not, according to German Federal office of Justice, is a misinformation-free platform. And Telegram will have to pay for it – over $5 million for the start.

The accusation assumes that Telegram has not provided a mechanism of deleting or reporting illegal (read: misleading, though some might think of pirated) content. Neither has it appointed and named an entity in Germany that would handle these cases, receive official communications, and take measures. In Germany, large social platforms are legally obliged to do both of these things.

German law enforcers seem seriously concerned with the issue: Telegram has become home to radical messages, so it’s often used for accusing, for example, politicians, medics, and scientists of the coronavirus pandemic. These messages are considered a menace to society, so Telegram has to handle this problem when addressed by the authorities. But Telegram didn’t respond, and the German law firm Telegram has named its legal representative came too late. Now, Telegram will have to pay that fine in order to keep operating in Germany.

The previous project of Pavel Durov, a social network VK.com, popular in Russia and some other countries, has also been known as a pirate’s and a hater’s heaven for long. In Russia, in the meantime, Telegram also had to pay fines about RUB 11 million (about $180,000) for its refusal to block channels that host “unreliable data” about the Russian invasion in Ukraine. In the meantime, channels registered in some other countries host both pirated content and information that governments would rather have blocked.

How do you use Telegram? What is it for you: a messenger, a news source, a place for anonymous communication, or a file exchange service? Do you agree it retains the spirit of the early 2000s’ Internet? Share your opinion with us in the comments section!