The EU tightens control over Telegram as part of the fight against extremist content and propaganda of violence. Telegram must appoint a legal representative in the European Union (EU) by February 17, 2024. The requirement stems from the Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force in August and aims to combat extremist content and the promotion of violence on social media.

The European Commission has expanded its powers in matters of control of digital platforms and interaction with them. Telegram is now among the platforms that will be required to strictly monitor the content its users post. European Commission representative Johannes Barke announced this at a briefing held in Brussels.

This law requires social networks to take full responsibility for user-generated, shared content, including the removal of illegal information such as extremist content or the promotion of violence. Failure to comply with DSA requirements may result in serious financial consequences for companies; fines can be up to 6% of the company's total annual turnover, and in extreme cases the platform can be blocked in EU countries.

Particular attention is paid to the automatic removal of content deemed unreliable by independent fact-checkers. The European Commission requires that if the given information is considered false, then the algorithm deletes it automatically.

It is important to note that it is not only Telegram that is under such pressure. The European Commission has already sent the first letters of complaint to Meta, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok over the distribution of illegal content about the Israeli conflict, European Commission Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said.