Pavel Durov, the founder of the social messaging software Telegram, was indicted by a French court on six charges on the 29th. The main charge was conspiracy to manage online platforms for illegal transactions (punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros).
Durov has been released after paying 5 million euros, but he must report to the police station twice a week and is restricted from leaving France.
Telegram European user data suspected of false reporting
It rained all night, and EU officials are currently investigating whether Telegram lied about the number of users in order to avoid being regulated by the Digital Services Act (DSA).
According to the Financial Times , the Joint Research Center under the European Commission is conducting a technical investigation to try to determine the true number of Telegram users in the EU.
It is understood that EU officials and experts currently suspect that Telegram has lied about the number of users on the platform, claiming that the number of users on the platform is less than 45 million users. Thomas Regnier, spokesman for the European Commission on digital issues, said:
We have methods through our systems and calculations to determine the accuracy of this user data.
45 million users is the threshold for the EU’s “super large online platform”
Earlier this year, Telegram claimed it had 41 million users in the EU. While the company was scheduled to provide updated data this month, it said only that "the average number of monthly active users is far less than 45 million."
Officials believe Telegram's failure to disclose actual data is itself a violation of the Digital Services Act, and they believe the investigation will show the platform has more than 45 million users.
The reason for underreporting is that this number is of great significance. Service applications with more than 45 million users in the EU (about 10% of the EU population) will be classified as "very large network platforms". These platforms It will be subject to stricter regulations under the Digital Services Act, and violations may result in fines, which can reach up to 6% of the company's annual revenue.
In addition, after being designated as a "very large online platform", Telegram must meet higher standards of compliance and content review, and share data with the European Commission. Third-party audits have also become one of the requirements.
If Telegram is later labeled a "super large network platform" by the European Union, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin's concerns about lack of freedom of communication in Europe may further become a reality.
Why was Durov arrested and what impact will it have on the TON ecosystem?
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