Telegram is being used to target government officials, scientists and doctors over their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) said on Wednesday.
BKA accused the encrypted messaging platform of becoming “medium for radicalization” and announced a crackdown.
“The coronavirus pandemic in particular has contributed to people becoming radicalized on Telegram, threatening others and even publishing calls to murder,” BKA president Holger Münch said in a statement.
“The rule of law must resolutely counter this worrying development. We aim to work with Telegram, but we will take action even if Telegram does not cooperate,” he added.
As part of this effort, the BKA has set up a task force to investigate users who post such content on the platform, with the goal of identifying and prosecuting them. Together with criminal police agencies of German federal states, the BKA will also seek Telegram’s cooperation on investigating “politically motivated crime” and approving its “deletion suggestions.”