Belgian telecom authority may exercise control over Telegram in the EU – IT Pro – News

Telegram has chosen the Belgian company EDSR as its representative in the European Union. This gives the Belgian telecom authority BIPT the authority to monitor Telegram’s European activities.

De Standaard writes that the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications is still waiting for the official designation as the competent authority. “That should be the case within a few days,” said spokesman Jimmy Smedts. From then on, BIPT can monitor content distributed via Telegram in the European Union. From then on, the Belgian supervisory authority will be able to take action in the event of any violations of the legislation. BIPT will therefore collaborate with authorities in other EU member states. The various Belgian parliaments still have to ratify a cooperation agreement for this.

Since the introduction of the Digital Services Act in 2023, Telegram must have a representative in the European Union, because according to the EU the chat service is an online platform and is not located within the EU. Telegram is headquartered in Dubai. The representative is liable for everything that Telegram may do wrong according to European regulations, such as distributing ‘illegal content’. The Digital Services Act, together with the Digital Markets Act, is one of two laws introduced by the European Union to regulate the power of big tech companies. Tweakers wrote extensive background articles about the operation of the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act.