This cooperation, initiated by the Belgian authorities in 2020 and recently expanded to a joint investigation team, was confirmed by the representative of the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Eric Vandersipt, Channel 24 reported, citing De Standaard.

Vandersypt said Telegram’s involvement in criminal activity is becoming increasingly apparent.

In almost every investigation into illegal arms smuggling, suspects use Telegram.
– explained.

Before this statement, it was not publicly known that the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office was investigating Telegram.

The recent launch of a similar investigation in France has prompted the two countries to join forces to facilitate and more effectively coordinate data sharing.

Telegram under the plus sign

• The increased interest in Telegram is linked to the arrest of the platform’s founder, Pavel Durov, in France at the end of August.
• Shortly thereafter, Durov was charged with several crimes, including participating in the activities of an organized criminal group, operating an online platform for illegal transactions, and failing to comply with requests for information from the authorities.
• Although Durov was released from custody, he remains under judicial custody in France.

In response to these actions, Durov publicly clarified Telegram’s stance on data transparency, saying that the app has been disclosing violators’ IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities upon legally justified requests since 2018. However, in practice the messenger often refused to cooperate with the police, and this changed dramatically after the arrest of its leader.