Can China Block Telegram?

Wait, it's already blocked!

In 2022, I wrote a piece for CommonWealth Magazine of Taiwan, entitled “Can Hong Kong Block Telegram?” It was when the territory’s privacy commissioner made comments about Telegram’s non-cooperation in dealing with various complaints.

Last year, I wrote a piece on “Can Taiwan Block Telegram?” It was when the story about a pornographic online forum called “Creative Private Room” (創意私房) was the talk of Taiwan, with several high-profiled celebrities involved.

But, never would I think one day I may have to ask, can China block Telegram? It’s already blocked, isn’t it? But, news broke recently that a Telegram group called “MaskPark Treehole Forum” (「MaskPark樹洞論壇」) circulating in China, started in 2021 and with more than 310,000 members before it was shut down in late 2024 and recently reappearing, was doing exactly that, as in the case of Taiwan, and before Taiwan in Korea with its “Nth Room.”

“Can China block Telegram” clearly is the wrong question to ask. Bad things still happen when the platform was “blocked.” The problem is, even for a country like China, where Telegram is already banned, as well as VPNs, in the sense that not only access to it is blocked, circumventing the Great Firewall and accessing these services (including Telegram and VPNs) is supposed to be illegal, people still found a way to do it.

So, it’s probably about time to ask another question in a different direction. What can Telegram do? What should Telegram do? Are they doing anything?

Recall that Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, was arrested in France on August 24, 2024, as part of a judicial investigation into alleged criminal activity facilitated via Telegram, including child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, fraud, and more. Shortly after that, he was charged by French authorities on six counts including "complicity" in the distribution of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking on his company’s platform, and refusing to cooperate with the authorities' investigation. As of now, Durov, a Russian and French citizen, has not been brought to trial, but is on “judicial control” in France, and requires permission to travel. (So, when will the French do something about him?)

The company had said that those charges were "absurd," and its CEO was not responsible for user behavior on his platform. True to this position, it seems the company has not improved on its moderation policy or to act on complaints about illegal materials in “private” channels on their platform.

I am an advocate for free speech (but not the Tucker Carlson kind, who interviewed Durov and called his arrest “politically motivated”) and encryption, but this is not about encryption right. This is about protecting people, and the least that platforms should do to protect those who are vulnerable. Telegram has failed.