The Amsterdam City Council has urged cabinet members as well as top-level staff to stop using the Telegram app due to concerns about criminal activity and the risk of espionage. However, it has actually been implemented since April but was not disclosed to the public until several sources reported on Monday. The ban comes after the Telegram app was linked to controversy as a safe haven for hackers, cybercriminals and drug traffickers.
The same situation also happened in France last year then suggested that any civil servant use Olvid or Tchap - an application developed specifically for civil servants three years ago - as a messaging application for official purposes. In addition to Telegram, shopping apps Temu and AliExpress are also classified as very risky.