THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Telegram, a messaging system that keeps the identity of the users anonymous, is misused the most by terrorists. Last day, the terrorist operatives who were caught by the NIA had created a group called 'Pet Lovers' on Telegram and were communicating to carry out blasts in Kerala. Terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban are also misusing it to plan terrorist attacks. It is being misused for recruiting and fundraising into gangs. The terrorist attack in Paris in 2015 that killed around 130 people was planned by sharing messages through Telegram. With this, the app got the bad name of 'terror gram'.

Contact anyone anonymously

1. You can chat with anyone, not just the person whose contact is saved on the phone. Services such as chat, secret chat, channel, group chat and bot on Telegram are misused.

2. Code languages are mostly used to spread terrorist ideas. The two languages will be mixed and messages will be sent through emojis. Such groups cannot be reached directly.

3. People who enter Telegram groups looking for information about cryptocurrency transactions like Bitcoin can even end up in terrorist groups if they click on unfamiliar links.

4. Many porn videos reach Telegram groups before they reach the dark web sites. Telegram is also used to download illegal apps, movies and software.

Office also unknown

The location of the offices of this Russian app, which started in 2013, is unknown Currently 106.8 crore people are using it. 15 lakh people are registering to the app every day. A group can accommodate up to two lakh people. Files up to 2GB can be downloaded