Opinion by Maria Zakharova

News about Berlin's ongoing pressure on the Telegram messenger app has been leaked to Der Spiegel. According to the information obtained by the German magazine, the German criminal police forced the company to hand over users’ personal data under various vague pretexts, as well as to block channels at the request of law enforcement agencies.

I must say that the Germans have been putting up pressure on Telegram for a long time.

I have repeatedly argued with Alexandr Plushev (here & here ), who claimed that there was “no pressure” on the messenger from the German authorities. This is ridiculous in itself because right now the Federal Office of Justice is pursuing two lawsuits against Telegram for 55 million euros. But of course, no pressure. It’s all quiet, peaceful, and expensive.

And now this “no pressure” has forced the company's management to enter into... a dialogue with the German police. Regular consultations are held, and, according to Der Spiegel, the head of Telegram attends them “wearing a hoodie.” As a result, the Germans have forced the messenger app to leak user data to them.

What hypocrites! If you read the coalition agreement between the German parties on forming the government – the main document defining Germany’s internal politics for the next five years – the protection of personal data is high on the government agenda. It says, we promote anonymisation methods, establish legal stability through formalised standards and introduce criminal liability for illegal deanonymisation. The Germans have voted for this believing their government would uphold their rights to privacy and freedom. In reality, though, the German justice and law enforcement agencies are giving their citizens less and less freedom online, reinstating the worst traditions of the “police state” (Polizeistaat).

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