Telegram has been accused of deliberately underestimating its number of users in Europe to avoid being classified as a “very large online platform”, which would impose additional regulatory obligations on it.

In particular, it mentions strengthening compliance with the European Commission, content moderation, independent monitoring and mandatory data exchange. The investigation began after Telegram claimed in February that it had 41 million users in the EU, a figure that is now being verified.

Within the framework of DSA Telegram was supposed to provide updated user data this monthbut it failed to do so, stating only that it had “significantly less than 45 million active users in the EU.” This hardly seems true, so the potential DSA violation prompted the EU to independently verify the actual number of Telegram users.

Arrest of Pavlo Durov

This investigation is developing against the backdrop of the story that Pavel Durov was detained in France and charged with numerous violations due to his alleged criminal activity on the platform.

The charges include distribution of materials depicting child sexual abuse, drug trafficking and a host of other illegal activities.

Meanwhile, Telegram’s popularity around the world has skyrocketed. The company claims that the number of users worldwide is approaching 1 billion.

It should be noted that the outcome of the EU investigation could have significant implications for Telegram, with the platform potentially being forced to comply with stricter rules if its user base in Europe is found to exceed the 45 million threshold.