Telegram Shared Data On 22,000+ Users

Telegram shared user data with authorities over 22,000 times in early 2025, sparking political tension and transparency concerns across multiple countries.

The messaging app Telegram provided user data to authorities more than 22,000 times during the initial three months of 2025, according to 404 Media. The company processed four times more requests during this period than it did during the same time in the previous year.

404 Media says that the GitHub repository containing Telegram reports indicates the company processed 13,600 official requests during January through March 2025. The disclosure of user data affected 22,777 users through these requests. The U.S. government issued 576 requests which led to the disclosure of data from 1,664 users.

The messaging application Telegram operated by Pavel Durov maintained resistance against government cooperation. The company shifted its stance after CEO Pavel Durov faced arrest in France because Telegram failed to cooperate with a child abuse investigation.

The company has become more willing to fulfill data requests from authorities. The platform operates a bot system which provides users with information about incoming requests along with the number of users who received data disclosure. 404 Media reports that human Rights Watch technologist Tek made the data accessible.

The report demonstrates that France submitted significantly more data requests to Telegram during this period. The French government initiated only four requests in early 2024 which impacted 17 users, reports 404 Media.

The number of requests from France increased to 668 this year while the affected user base expanded to 1,425 people. The number of requests from Romania increased to 37 in 2024 which affected 88 users An error occurred while processing your request. Please try again, as reported by 404 Media.

Durov, recently released from France and now in Dubai, took to social media to accuse France of trying to interfere with Romanian elections.

“A Western European government approached Telegram, asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today’s presidential elections. I flatly refused,” he said, as reported by 404 Media.

He later named France and its intelligence chief, Nicolas Lerner, directly. The French government has denied the claim.