Telegram surprised as Vietnam orders messaging app to be blocked

HANOI - Vietnam’s technology ministry has ordered telecommunication service providers to block the messaging app Telegram for not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by its users, in a move that Telegram said was surprising.

In a document, dated May 21 and signed by the deputy head of the telecom department at the technology ministry, telecommunication companies were ordered to take measures to block Telegram and report on them to the ministry by June 2.

The ministry was acting on behalf of the country’s cybersecurity department after police reported that 68 per cent of the 9,600 Telegram channels and groups in Vietnam violated the law, citing fraud, drug trafficking and “cases suspected of being related to terrorism” among the illegal activities carried out through the app, the document seen by Reuters said.

The ministry asked telecommunication service providers “to deploy solutions and measures to prevent Telegram’s activities in Vietnam”, the document said.

After publication of the Reuters article, the government confirmed the measures against Telegram on its web portal.

“Telegram is surprised by those statements,” a company representative told Reuters on May 23.

“We have responded to legal requests from Vietnam on time. This morning, we received a formal notice from the Authority of Communications regarding a standard service notification procedure required under new telecom regulations,” the Telegram representative said.

“The deadline for the response is May 27, and we are processing the request.”

A technology ministry official said the move followed Telegram’s failure to share user data with the government when asked as part of criminal investigations.

The Vietnamese police and state news outlets have repeatedly warned people of possible crime, frauds and data breaches on Telegram channels and groups.

Telegram, which competes globally with other social media apps such as Facebook’s WhatsApp and WeChat, was still available in