Case Study: Telegram and End-to-End Encryption

In recent weeks, millions of users have been switching to the social media messaging platform Telegram, following the storming of the Capitol building and the banning of former President Donald J. Trump from social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. Along with the banning of President Donald J. Trump, many users of Twitter and Facebook who were deemed as being responsible for having incited violence or spread disinformation, resulting in the insurgence, found themselves also being banned. This has contributed to twenty-five million new users joining Telegram.

Many of these users joined Telegram due to it's model and usage of end-to-end encryption, also known by E2EE, in which no one but the participants of a chat are able to view the contents of a message. This means that neither the company nor any of its workers are able to view your messages, and data can not be obtained from it either. This is a model preferred by many for several reasons, ranging from privacy, security, and concerns regarding censorship and free speech.

In comparison, Big Tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter do not use end-to-end encryption, and have access to all messages sent by their users. The messages can be used in several ways, such as for data collection and analytics, personalization of services, and content moderation to ensure users pertain to the Terms of Service.

Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation analyst at the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan research group, says, "there’s a real push and pull between the people that are using Telegram — and messengers like it — for good, and the people who are using them to undermine democracy. We see the same openness and sense of connection that is used by democratic activists opportunistically exploited by extremists.”

While Telegram has largely welcomed all content and free speech on it's platform, it has also encountered it's share of troubles regarding content moderation. Since the large influx of users, Telegram has blocked hundreds of posts from American channels which have called for violence ahead of the presidential inauguration.

How do your country's or company's policies align with end-to-end encryption? What about with Telegram's policies? In which ways can end-to-end encryption be dangerous? What about beneficial?

For further reading and more information regarding Telegram, their history, and their policies, read the article at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/world/europe/telegram-app-far-right.html.