Turkey has about eight million active users of the app, while globally it has one billion users.
Turkey may block access to the messenger Telegram due to the discovery of channels where, according to preliminary data, drugs are sold, prostitution and gambling are promoted.
On August 2, Turkish authorities blocked access to the social network Instagram (the activities of Meta (social networks Facebook and Instagram) are banned in Russia as extremist). However, on August 10, after negotiations, access to the social network was resumed.
According to the Sabah newspaper, citing sources in the authorities, Telegram, widely used in Turkey, has turned into a "criminal swamp." As it turned out, drugs are freely sold through Telegram channels, prostitution, gambling and pedophilia videos are promoted, the newspaper said.
Turkey's Information and Communications Technology Authority (BTK) sent more than a thousand notices to Telegram's headquarters in Britain, asking to close these messaging channels, but received no response.
It was then stated that if Telegram did not take action within a short time, access to it could be blocked.
Turkey has about eight million active users of the app, while globally it has one billion users.