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In August 2016, French anti-terrorism investigators asserted that the two ISIS-directed terrorists who fatally cut the throat of a priest in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy, France, and videoed the murder, had communicated via Telegram and "used the app to coordinate their plans for the attack". ISIS's media wing subsequently posted a video on Telegram, showing the pair pledging allegiance. A CNN news report stated that Telegram had "become known as a preferred means of communication for the terror group ISIS and was used by the ISIS cell that plotted the Paris terror attacks in November" after the attacks.[162]
In June 2017, the Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor hinted at the possibility of blocking Telegram in Russia due to its usage by terrorists.[173]
In July 2017, Director General of Application and Informatics of the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, said eleven Telegram DNS servers were blocked because many channels in the service "promoted radicalism, terrorism, hatred, bomb assembly, civil attack, disturbing images, and other propaganda contrary to Indonesian laws and regulations."[174] In August 2017, Indonesia lifted the block after countermeasures against negative content were deployed in association with Telegram LLP.[175]
In November 2019, Telegram participated in Europol's Internet Referral Action Day.[176] As a result, Telegram expanded and strengthened its terrorist content detection and removal efforts. Over 43,000 terrorist-related bots and channels were removed from Telegram. According to U.S. officials, the crackdown on Telegram was especially effective and seems to be having lasting impact.[177] According to Europol, Telegram has put forth considerable effort in removing abusers of its platform.[176]
Far-right groups
An article published by Mother Jones magazine on 19 January 2020, says that the Anti-Defamation League has called Telegram a white supremacist "safe haven" and a valuable tool for right-wing extremists. The article said Neo-nazi and fascist hate groups were using the Telegram app to organize a gun rally in Richmond, Virginia, on 20 January 2020.[178] The neo-Nazi white separatist paramilitary hate group The Base switched over to Telegram after being blocked on most social media platforms, including Twitter, YouTube, and Gab, a favorite among extremists. After a number of arrests of The Base members in January 2020, a note appeared on its official Telegram account warning people to stop posting.[179] In August 2019 white supremacist Christopher Cantwell posted anti-Semitic comments on Telegram.[180]
The Anti-Defamation League notes that Telegram was founded by the same two Russian brothers who founded VKontakte (VK), which is known for its lack of moderation when it comes to white supremacism. While Telegram's terms of service prohibit the promotion of violence, they have allowed violent videos posted by mass shooters Brenton Tarrant (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Stephan Balliet (Halle, Germany), although other social media platforms had removed them. The League also points to the RapeWaffen Division channel, which openly advocates rape and murder as part of a race war.[181]
In addition Telegram has been used by the Proud Boys, an alt-right organization to coordinate throughout the United States.[182] In the United Kingdom, Telegram is one of the main platforms for far-right sources TR.news, maintained by Tommy Robinson (activist), and Britain First, whose pages were blocked by major social media platforms.[183] Weblinks related to these channels received more views on Telegram in 2018 and 2019 than some well-known mainstream news outlets, including the Guardian or Daily Mail.[184] However, with a relatively small user base and no algorithmic timeline, such groups struggle to build a larger audience on Telegram.[184]
On 13 January 2021, Telegram confirmed that it blocked "dozens" of neo-Nazi and white supremacist channels with tens of thousands of followers in recent days for inciting violence.[185]