The potential Telegram ban in India has captured the attention of both the government and the public as investigations intensify into the messaging app’s operations. With over 5 million users in India, the outcome of these probes could drastically alter the digital communication landscape and set precedents for internet governance in the country.

What’s the reason behind the potential Telegram ban in India?

Authorities are particularly concerned about the allegations that Telegram’s peer-to-peer (P2P) communication features might be facilitating unlawful activities like gambling and extortion. This concern has prompted both the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to delve deeply into the platform’s operations, examining whether a Telegram ban in India would be a necessary measure to protect national security and enforce cyber law compliance.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is under arrest in France

Amidst this domestic scrutiny, the recent arrest of Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, in France over inadequate content moderation policies has added an international dimension to the debate. French officials have argued that the platform’s lack of moderators fosters an environment ripe for criminal activities, a viewpoint that resonates with Indian regulators and bolsters the case for a possible Telegram ban in India.

Sources within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have indicated that the ministry, while not directly conducting criminal investigations, is actively consulting with the Ministry of Home Affairs. The focus is on assessing the severity of the complaints against Telegram and the similarities between the situations in India and France. This assessment is crucial as it could directly influence the decision on implementing a Telegram ban in India.

As the situation unfolds, the broader implications of such a ban are being hotly debated within the tech community. Privacy advocates and digital rights activists argue that while regulation is necessary, outright bans could undermine the privacy rights of millions of users and stifle digital freedoms. Conversely, proponents of strict regulation argue that tech platforms must be held accountable for preventing their services from becoming conduits for illegal activities.

The decisions made in the coming weeks will not only affect Telegram’s operations in India but could also signal how the government plans to navigate similar challenges with other tech companies in the future.

Featured image credit: Lana Codes/Unsplash

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget airport in France under somewhat murky circumstances. His arrest has been the subject of much speculation, especially on social media platforms, including Telegram itself. While official details remain uncertain, the initial reports came from the French television network TF1, which claimed that the arrest was based on a preliminary police investigation.

Why is Telegram CEO arrested?

The core of the issue appears to be linked to allegations concerning Telegram’s content moderation practices, or rather, the perceived lack thereof. According to TF1, French authorities suspect that Telegram’s platform has been used for illegal activities, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and the sharing of child pornography. Because Telegram has been criticized for not fully cooperating with law enforcement and for not having stringent enough content moderation policies, Durov himself is being implicated as an accomplice to these criminal activities.

The broader debate here revolves around the responsibility of messaging apps like Telegram for the content shared by their users. Telegram has always championed itself as a platform for free speech and privacy, often resisting pressures to censor or control user content. However, this position has also led to criticism that it provides a haven for illegal activities. The French authorities’ actions against Durov may be seen as part of a broader attempt to enforce stricter regulations on such platforms.

Telegram, in response, has issued a statement asserting that it “abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act.” The company argues that its moderation efforts are “within industry standards and constantly improving,” and it is “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.” This statement highlights the tension between maintaining user privacy and addressing legal obligations to prevent illegal activities.

⚖️ Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.

✈️ Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.

😵‍💫 It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner…

— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) August 25, 2024

Durov’s arrest has drawn attention due to his significant role in Telegram, a platform with 950 million active users and a goal of reaching 1 billion this year. With only around 30 engineers running the app, Durov’s leadership is critical to its operations. This arrest may bring further scrutiny to Telegram and spark a broader conversation about the balance between privacy, free speech, and law enforcement on digital platforms.

Potential Telegram ban in India raises concerns

The potential ban of Telegram in India is currently under investigation by the government, prompted by concerns over criminal activities such as extortion and gambling occurring on the platform. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are probing these activities to determine whether the messaging app should continue to operate in the country. An anonymous government official has hinted that a ban could be considered depending on the findings of the ongoing investigation.

This scrutiny comes in the wake of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest in France, linked to similar concerns about the platform’s content moderation policies. Telegram, known for its strong stance on user privacy and encrypted communications, has been a challenge for Indian authorities due to its lack of a physical presence in the country. This absence complicates efforts to request user data and enforce compliance with local laws.

While Telegram complies with India’s IT Rules, which require appointing a nodal officer and publishing compliance reports, the platform’s ability to manage and monitor criminal activities remains under question. The investigation is not related to these IT rules but rather focuses on the specific allegations of criminal activities on the app. Telegram’s role in recent controversies, such as the UGC-NEET exam paper leak, has further fueled calls for stricter regulation or a potential ban in India.

Fell victim to the Telegram data breach? Do these immediately!

Will Telegram be banned in other countries?

The possibility of Telegram being banned in other countries cannot be ruled out, especially given the growing concerns about how the platform is used for criminal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and the spread of child pornography. The recent arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO, in France has brought these issues into sharper focus, leading to increased scrutiny from governments around the world.

Different countries have varying levels of tolerance for privacy-focused platforms like Telegram, which often resist government requests for data or content moderation. In some regions, the platform’s commitment to encryption and user privacy is seen as a positive, while in others, it raises significant concerns about national security and public safety.

Countries that have strict regulations on digital communications, such as those in the European Union, might consider banning Telegram if it fails to comply with local laws, particularly if it’s seen as enabling criminal activities. However, a complete ban would be a significant move and would likely only happen if other measures, such as stricter enforcement of existing laws or demands for greater transparency and cooperation from Telegram, prove ineffective.

Prominent figures react to Pavel Durov’s arrest

The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France has sparked a strong reaction from several high-profile figures, who have voiced their concerns about the implications for free speech. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk, and others took to social media to express their support for Durov and to emphasize the importance of protecting free speech in the digital age.

France just arrested Pavel Durov, founder & CEO of the encrypted, uncensored Telegram platform. The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent.

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 25, 2024

RFK Jr., who recently endorsed former President Trump, highlighted the urgency of defending free speech. “The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent,” Kennedy wrote on X, reacting to Durov’s arrest. This sentiment was echoed by Elon Musk, who posted “#FreePavel” and described the situation as “Dangerous times,” linking it to broader concerns about freedom of expression.

POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme https://t.co/OkZ6YS3u2P

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2024

Concerns over censorship and freedom of speech

The arrest has also led to fears that the incident is part of a broader effort to silence dissent and control the flow of information online. Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski condemned the arrest, stating that France had “crossed a red line” by detaining Durov for what he perceives as refusing to censor speech. Conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong echoed these concerns, arguing that the arrest represents an attack on freedom of speech, with the potential to turn the internet into “another arm of their propaganda machine.”

These reactions have fueled speculation that governments might target other platforms and figures associated with free speech, with some suggesting that Musk and his platform, X, could be next in line for similar scrutiny. This concern reflects a growing anxiety among free speech advocates about the increasing pressure on digital platforms to moderate content, which they fear could lead to overreach and censorship.

Featured image credit: Dima Solomin/Unsplash

Telegram combolists have unveiled a staggering data breach, revealing that millions of accounts have been compromised.

A massive collection of 361 million email addresses, sourced from credentials stolen by password-stealing malware, in credential stuffing attacks, and from data breaches, has been added to the Have I Been Pwned data breach notification service. This addition enables individuals to check if their accounts have been compromised through the use of Telegram combolists.

What are Telegram combolists?

Cybersecurity experts gathered these credentials from various Telegram cybercrime channels, where such stolen data is frequently leaked to enhance the reputation and subscriber count of the channels.

The leaked data typically consists of username and password combinations (often stolen via credential stuffing attacks or data breaches), usernames and passwords along with associated URLs (exfiltrated via password-stealing malware), and raw cookies (also stolen via password-stealing malware).

The researchers shared 122 GB of credentials with Troy Hunt, the founder of Have I Been Pwned, sourced from numerous Telegram channels.

According to Hunt, this dataset is extensive, encompassing 361 million unique email addresses, with 151 million of these never previously seen by the data breach notification service.

“It contained 1.7k files with 2B lines and 361M unique email addresses of which 151M had never been seen in HIBP before. Alongside those addresses were passwords and, in many cases, the website the data pertains to,” stated Hunt.

Telegram, a widely-used messaging platform, facilitates the creation of “channels” where users can share information with visitors easily. Described by Telegram as a simple, private, and secure service, it has gained popularity among those wishing to share content anonymously, including data breach information. Many of the breaches previously uploaded to Have I Been Pwned have been disseminated via Telegram, as it provides an effortless means to publish this type of data.

What is a combolist?

A combolist is a compilation of email addresses and corresponding passwords that have been gathered, often illicitly, from various data breaches, credential stuffing attacks, and other hacking activities. These lists are typically used by cybercriminals to attempt to access accounts by trying these combinations across multiple services.

Below is an example of how data posted to Telegram typically appears:

These are known as “combolists,” which are combinations of email addresses or usernames paired with passwords. These combinations are crucial for authenticating access to various services, and attackers frequently use them to conduct “credential stuffing” attacks, where they attempt to access multiple accounts en masse using the lists. The example provided above breaks the combos down by their respective email service providers. For instance, the last example from Gmail includes over a quarter of a million rows formatted like this:

This is just one example among numerous files spread across various Telegram channels. The data forwarded to me last week originated from 518 different channels and comprised 1,748 separate files similar to the one above. While some files contained no data (0kb), others were several gigabytes in size with tens of millions of rows. For instance, the largest file begins as follows:

This appears to be the result of info stealer malware, which captures credentials as they are entered into websites on compromised devices. For instance, the initial record seems to have been intercepted when an individual attempted to log in to Nike. To gauge the accuracy of this data, simply visit the Nike homepage and click on the login link, which will display the following screen:

By examining the login screen, one can infer the validity of the captured credentials, as the data matches the format of typical login attempts. This method provides a straightforward way to verify the integrity and relevance of the leaked information found in Telegram combolists.

Is this a Telegram data breach we are witnessing in 2024?

Yes, it is, but Telegram is not responsible for that. Telegram itself hasn’t been breached. Instead, Telegram is being used as a channel by cybercriminals to share and distribute stolen data. This data, which includes email addresses and passwords, comes from various sources like password-stealing malware, credential stuffing attacks, and other data breaches. Cybersecurity experts have gathered this data from numerous Telegram channels to add to Have I Been Pwned, allowing people to check if their accounts are compromised.

How to delete your Telegram account?

Deleting your Telegram account won’t help with the security issue at hand since the breach involves data shared on the platform, not Telegram itself.

However, if you still wish to delete your Telegram account, here’s how you can do it:

• Open the Telegram deactivation page: Visit my.telegram.org/auth from your browser.
• Log in: Enter the phone number associated with your Telegram account.
• Confirmation code: You will receive a confirmation code via Telegram. Enter this code on the website.
• Delete account: After logging in, select the option “Delete Account” and follow the prompts to permanently remove your account

Editor’s note: I visited the Have I Been Pwned site and checked my personal email. To my surprise, it turned out that my email was also compromised.

You can see the result in the image below:

Featured image credit: Kerem Gülen/Midjourney

Step into the exciting world of Telegram Stories! As Telegram celebrates its 10th birthday, it’s bringing you a thrilling new feature that’s been highly anticipated – Stories! If you’re ready to embrace the evolution of social media and messaging apps, keep reading to discover how to create and share captivating stories on Telegram effortlessly.

The most-requested feature ever added to Telegram was Stories, which was launched back in June. The distribution started in July, although at first, it was only accessible to Premium users. Telegram Stories are now available to everyone without a premium membership.

What are Telegram Stories?

Unveiling a new dimension in content sharing, Telegram Stories are your gateway to sharing the moment. Like the Stories you love on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, Telegram Stories lets you share photos and videos that shine bright for a limited time. The best part? They’re right at the top of your chat list, making it easy for your followers to dive into your world.

It is not the first time that another has inspired a platform. Just recently, Snapchat announced its BeReal-like feature called After Dark.

Imagine this: you’re on a picturesque hike, and the view from the top is breathtaking. You can capture that vista in a short video clip with Telegram Stories and share it with your friends. They get to experience the serenity of that mountaintop, even if they’re miles away.

But it doesn’t end there. Telegram Stories aren’t just about sharing; they’re about engagement. Your followers can react and interact with your stories – they can send emojis, messages, or even funny stickers that add a layer of fun to the experience.

How to post a story on Telegram

Curious to get started? First, be a subscriber of Telegram Premium. Now let’s walk through the simple steps of crafting your very own Telegram Story:

• Update and dive in: First things first, ensure your Telegram app is up-to-date. Then, tap into the Stories section at the top of your chat list – it’s like stepping into a whole new realm of sharing!
• Unleash your creativity: Feeling inspired? Hit that camera icon to begin your storytelling journey. Choose “Create a Story” and get ready to share the excitement.
• Tailor your audience: Telegram understands that sharing is all about choices. Select who gets a front-row seat to your story – everyone, your contacts, a select few individuals, or your close friends.
• Time is of the essence: Decide how long your masterpiece will grace the digital stage. Whether it’s a quick six-hour encore or a permanent showstopper, the choice is yours!
• Polishing touches: Review your creation with a satisfied grin. Adjust your captions, perfect the on-screen text – all without breaking a sweat or deleting anything!
• Lights, camera, action! It’s showtime! Post your story and let the magic unfold as you share it with your chosen audience.

The Telegram Twist: Editing freedom and targeted sharing

Telegram Stories aren’t your typical tales – they’re better. Here’s what sets them apart:

Editing freedom

No need to stress about perfection from the get-go! Unlike other platforms, Telegram Stories let you edit your content even after it’s out there. Tweak captions, visibility settings, and more, all without the drama of deleting and starting over.

Targeted sharing

Privacy is a priority. You call the shots on who gets a glimpse of your story. Share with everyone, your inner circle, or hand-picked pals – this unique approach adds a touch of personalization to your storytelling.

Possible scenarios: How Telegram Stories benefit the platform

As Telegram introduces its eagerly anticipated Stories feature to the world, it’s not just about adding a trendy element to the app. Telegram Stories hold immense potential to benefit the platform and its users in several meaningful ways.

Let’s delve into how this exciting addition can help elevate Telegram to new heights:

Enhanced user engagement

Telegram Stories provide a dynamic and interactive way for users to engage with their friends, family, and followers. With the captivating nature of Stories, users are likely to spend more time on the app, leading to increased user engagement and prolonged session durations.

Attracting a wider audience

The addition of Stories caters to the evolving preferences of social media users. By aligning with the popular Stories format on other platforms, Telegram can attract a broader audience, including younger demographics accustomed to such content-sharing methods.

Showcasing user creativity

Telegram Stories empower users to showcase their creativity in a visually compelling manner. This adds an element of fun and personalization and encourages users to stay active and experiment with new content formats, driving overall app usage.

Promoting engagement features

The introduction of Stories can encourage users to explore other engagement features within Telegram. For instance, users may be more likely to utilize the chat, voice call, or video call features to further connect with the audience they’ve engaged through their Stories.

Differentiation from competitors

Telegram Stories come with distinctive features like post-publishing editing and advanced audience targeting. These unique aspects set Telegram apart from its competitors and contribute to the platform’s identity as an innovative and user-centric messaging app.

Increased user retention

Telegram can increase user retention rates by offering a wide array of features, including Stories. When users find the app to be versatile and engaging, they’re more likely to continue using it as their primary messaging and social platform.

Fostering community building

Stories can foster a sense of community among Telegram users. With the ability to create content for specific audience segments, users can build closer connections with like-minded individuals, enhancing the platform’s social aspect.

Platform evolution and adaptation

The addition of Stories showcases Telegram’s commitment to evolving and adapting to changing user behaviors. This willingness to innovate can help Telegram maintain its relevance in the ever-evolving landscape of social media and technology.

In essence, Telegram Stories go beyond being just another feature – they represent a strategic move that aligns with user preferences, fosters engagement, and positions Telegram as a modern, dynamic, and forward-thinking messaging platform. As users embrace the new storytelling format, Telegram stands to gain from increased user activity, retention, and potential monetization avenues.

Embracing the evolution of social media

From Vine’s early days to today’s TikTok frenzy, social media storytelling has come a long way. Telegram Stories mark the next chapter, allowing you to share fleeting moments with a fresh twist.

Get ready to step into the limelight with Telegram Stories! With a dash of creativity and a touch of editing magic, you’re all set to share your world in an exhilarating new way. So, update your app, dive into the Stories section, and let the sharing extravaganza begin!

Featured image credit: Telegram

• The popular messaging app has almost launched Telegram Username Auction Marketplace, a new marketplace that does not require nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
• According to the company’s Telegram channel, the marketplace’s development phase is approaching completion.
• Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov introduced the idea in late August this year when he envisioned a marketplace that would utilize “NFT-like smart contracts” to auction off highly sought-after usernames.

Telegram, the popular messaging service, has created Telegram Username Auction Marketplace, which does not use nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The social messaging platform announced plans to develop a marketplace for auctioning off unique identities for social networks, a concept initially discussed in August.

Birth of the Telegram Username Auction Marketplace

The company said on its Telegram channel that the marketplace’s development phase is nearing completion. The Open Network (TON), the marketplace’s native blockchain, serves as its foundation.

The concept was initially floated by firm founder Pavel Durov in late August this year when he proposed a marketplace that would employ “NFT-like smart contracts” to auction off highly sought-after usernames. The notion came from Durov following the “success” of domain name auctions by The Open Network (TON), a layer-1 blockchain created by the Telegram team.

The massive Uber security breach causes an uproar in the cybersecurity community

Durov stated at the time that a new marketplace where username holders may transfer them to interested parties in safe transactions — with ownership secured on the blockchain using NFT-like smart contracts — might become a popular feature on Web3. He also mentioned that additional parts of the Telegram ecosystem, such as channels, stickers, or emojis, may become part of this marketplace in the future.

Telegram began its Web3 and crypto venture intending to develop a digital payments mechanism for Telegram. However, Telegram, like many other platforms from the initial coin offering (ICO) period, faced difficulty with US regulators for the unregistered sale of its Gram token.

After losing a legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020, Durov pulled away from the project to focus on Telegram. Since then, open-source programmers have resurrected the project under the guise of The Open Network.