Active Users Reach 3 Million
International Investigation Cooperation Completely Fails
Repeated Regulatory Failures Abroad
Recently, Telegram has become a hotbed for various crimes such as the ‘Seoul National University Nth Room’ and ‘drug cases.’ This is why there are calls for appropriate regulation of Telegram. While the majority of the public is concerned about the side effects of Telegram, the number of domestic users continues to increase.
On the 4th, a police official stated, “Telegram servers do not cooperate with investigations,” adding, “Basically, digital forensics is used to find conversations and data remaining on mobile phones. It is difficult to generalize, but depending on the phone model and forensic programs, data may or may not be recoverable even if the user deletes it.”
Telegram is a messenger created in 2013 by Russian brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov. Unlike other messengers, Telegram is widely known for its high security and has never cooperated with investigations in any country. In particular, secret chats encrypt messages on users’ devices, making it impossible to read the content on intermediate servers. This characteristic has increasingly been exploited for criminal activities.
The number of Telegram users in South Korea has steadily increased. Telegram first gained attention in 2014 amid controversies over investigative agencies’ surveillance of KakaoTalk. After the KakaoTalk outage incident in 2022, many people started using Telegram as a supplementary messenger. According to Mobile Index, the monthly active users (MAU) of Telegram in South Korea increased by 20.5%, from 2.49 million in April 2021 to 3 million as of April 2024.
While the majority of the public highly values Telegram’s security, there is a strong negative perception that it is vulnerable to criminal misuse. A survey conducted by Embrain Trend Monitor from April 9 to 12 this year targeting 1,000 adults aged 19 to 69 nationwide found that 62.1% of respondents agreed that Telegram’s security and privacy features are a significant advantage compared to other messengers. However, negative views coexist, such as the belief that it is often used for criminal purposes (71.9%) and that its image is poor due to media reports (69.6%).
Perceptions of Telegram users were also unfavorable. 48.8% of respondents said they would likely ask someone around them why they use Telegram. The image of Telegram users was characterized as secretive (55.1%, multiple responses allowed), suspicious (37.1%), untrustworthy (26.3%), unethical (23.5%), and antisocial (19.2%), in that order.
Attempts to regulate Telegram overseas have repeatedly failed. According to Professor Cho Hoon of Inha University Law School’s study on ‘Judicial Responses to Telegram,’ Germany has enacted domestic laws to receive investigative cooperation from Telegram regarding child abuse and terrorism, but this is limited and the criteria are unclear.
In Brazil, attempts were made to block the application itself and impose fines, but Telegram did not cooperate with investigations, and the number of users increased. On the other hand, in 2020, the Delhi High Court in India ordered Telegram to submit suspect information related to a copyright infringement case. At that time, Telegram sealed and submitted phone numbers, IP addresses, and email addresses to the court within a week. The details of how Telegram cooperated in this case remain unknown.
Professor Cho pointed out, “Telegram rooms and channels can be technically and physically shut down, but new ones will be created. Blocking the app is possible, but second and third alternatives will immediately be launched,” adding, “It is necessary to fundamentally discuss whether the methods used in Germany and Brazil are appropriate or if India’s disclosure order is suitable.”
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