Court case puts focus on terrorist use of app
Telegram, a messaging app through which a British Isil supporter urged his followers to target Prince George and which hosted 300,000 hate-filled messages, is a mouthpiece for terrorism, the Home Secretary has claimed.
Husnain Rashid, 32, was told yesterday he could face life behind bars after changing his plea, midway through his trial at the Woolwich Crown Court, to guilty for a string of terror offences.
He used the instant messaging app, which has military-grade encryption, to provide an ‘‘e-toolkit for terrorism’’ and called on supporters to target the fouryear-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at school.
Sajid Javid told The Daily Telegraph that Telegram and other apps had ‘‘not been doing enough’’ to curb terrorism. ‘‘If companies do not want to be a mouthpiece for the vile ideology of Daesh then they need to act now.’’
Theresa May warned earlier this year that Telegram has become a ‘‘home to terrorists and criminals’’ as she urged investors to put pressure on the company.
Between November 2016 and his arrest on November 22 last year Rashid sent 360,000 messages on 150 different chat threads on Telegram. He urged followers to carry out terror attacks at next month’s World Cup in Russia and encouraged them to poison ice cream and inject cyanide into fruit and vegetables at grocery shops.
But police have only been able to access a handful of his messages. Annabel Darlow QC, prosecuting, said Telegram ‘‘provided a highly secure’’ network for terrorists and criminals.
‘‘Whereas other social networks have begun taking action against Isis, Telegram has so far refused to remove private conversations or chats,’’ she said. ‘‘Telegram users can exchange messages and files with other Telegram users. Anything sent over Telegram is unintelligible to anyone other than the intended user or users.’’
When Rashid was arrested at his home in Nelson, Lancashire, officers seized devices including mobile phones and a laptop. He refused to provide the personal identification numbers, forcing prosecutors to admit that the material before the court was likely to be a sample of ‘‘an unknown proportion’’ of terrorrelated activities.
Rashid was linked online to Omar Hussain, a terrorist in Syria thought to have since been killed. He admitted three counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and one of encouraging terrorism. He was remanded in custody for sentencing on June 28.
Telegram is based in Dubai, meaning it does not have to provide access to UK authorities. Pavel Durov, its chief, said last year: ‘‘We consider freedom of speech an undeniable human right.’’ – Telegraph Group