“Criminals have found a home on Telegram – from selling vapes and exotic pets to offering sex services.”
SINGAPORE: All it took was using the right keywords – fast cash, vape, SG, Geylang – to open up a criminal underworld on messaging app Telegram.
“There were dozens of groups and channels, some with thousands of subscribers selling e-cigarettes, buying Singpass or bank accounts, and offering sex services. Others collected orders for prescription drugs, advertised exotic pets for sale and offered to create fake medical certificates.”
Among the biggest groups were those offering sex services. Administrators posted pictures of women – sometimes in revealing clothing or suggestive poses – along with their height, weight and other details.
“Rates and the women’s working hours were also included in the messages. In one channel that had nearly 13,000 subscribers, administrators also put up screengrabs of conversations with customers. “She is so good,” one customer wrote. ‘100000/10.'”
Groups of selling sex services and prescription drugs.
Reporting the Telegram Groups
The apparent lack of moderation of content on the app has come into sharp focus after Telegram’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France on Aug 24.
“In Singapore, people have been arrested for illegal activities on Telegram, such as distributing sexual content or selling drugs. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told CNA on Saturday (Sep 21) that it is ‘very concerned’ about the potential use of Telegram for criminal activities such as scams, and is engaging the platform regularly.”
Lack of Response from Telegram
But two and a half weeks later, there was no response from Telegram. Of the 20 reported, 17 were still up and running.
“After submitting the report, a notification at the bottom of the screen would pop up, saying: ‘Telegram moderators will review your report. Thank you!’ But two and a half weeks later, there was no response from Telegram. Of the 20 reported, 17 were still up and running.”
Exploitative Nature of Telegram
“Some of the animals being offered in the group, such as the harlequin gecko, are classified as endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Besides exotic animals… CNA asked Telegram about its moderation process and how the app processed reports of illegal content.”
Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn said moderators do not provide feedback on the outcome of users’ reports.
“But every report is examined and any content that breaches Telegram’s terms is removed,” he said. “He did not respond to a question about how long it took for a user’s report to be looked at.”
Criminal Activities Thrive on Platforms Like Telegram
Associate Professor Jiow Hee Jhee of the Singapore Institute of Technology said that as society becomes more digitized, it is no surprise that criminal activities are also moving online.
“If there are features that afford anonymity and the ability to reach a large audience size, it becomes attractive for criminal activities. I understand that Telegram affords such features,” he added. “Groups on Telegram can have up to 200,000 people, while channels can broadcast to an unlimited audience size.”
Image shared by Twitter user Mishap_bella shows the Telegram chat group “SG Nasi Lemak” blocked on iPhone.
Despite reports and concerns about illegal activities on Telegram, the lack of swift action and response from the platform continues to allow a dark underworld to thrive, perpetuating the exploitation of vulnerable communities and endangered species.
