What a Growing Telegram Disinformation Network Reveals About the DSA | TechPolicy.PressAnalysis<br>What a Growing Telegram Disinformation Network Reveals About the DSA<br>Ognjen Karadzic, Daniela Alvarado Rincón / Jul 31, 2026(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via AP)

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A multilingual network of Telegram channels offering local news does not appear to be what it seems. It seems there is no newsroom behind any of it. Independent researchers working separately, including us at Democracy Reporting International, have reached the same conclusion about this cluster of growing Telegram channels: They belong to a coordinated operation spreading disinformation and propaganda aligned with the Kremlin that shares the same script, pushes biased and unverified content, translated and timed to hit everywhere at once.<br>Our research reveals how easily a network can significantly grow across many languages in a way that is difficult to detect, which is why we argue that European authorities should reconsider their light regulatory approach to Telegram.<br>When size is a sign of inauthenticity<br>During social media monitoring of the Hungarian elections earlier this year, DRI identified seven of those previously uncovered channels, along with an additional twelve accounts that nobody had connected to this network. All 19 channels share the same signature of coordinated inauthentic behavior, and they never link or mention one another. Yet they all have similar names (translating roughly to "common sense"), and all but one share identical branding.<br>The "Common Sense network,” as we call it, shows two kinds of growth: vertical (rising subscriber counts within existing channels) and horizontal (new channels added over time). They tell different stories.<br>Subscriber numbers function as social proof. At its peak last winter, the network had over 220,000 subscribers; by early April it had dropped to 167,000, and it now sits under 100,000. We are confident the number will rise again, as it did last year, when each channel suddenly surpassed 10,000 subscribers almost overnight. The sudden spikes are consistent with purchased or otherwise inauthentic accounts. However, an unsuspecting German reader who does not spend time verifying a Telegram channel's legitimacy, and who encounters a channel "Die Stimme der Vernunft" which is posting regularly and has 40,000 subscribers, will likely conclude it is a serious channel. There is little to indicate that he or she has just walked into a network repeatedly linked to foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) operations.<br>Horizontal growth is a less ambiguous indicator. Nineteen channels across nineteen languages are themselves a significant footprint, and the more revealing insight is how the network came together. We reconstructed its horizontal expansion using data from the third-party service Telemetrio combined with systematic interval sampling of published messages via the Telegram API.<br>Reconstruction of the Common Sense network's horizontal growth (N=19). The network may include additional channels that went undetected. Creation dates for confirmed channels are known exactly; for estimated channels, dates are approximated to a two-week window.

None of this growth, in either direction, is likely to be noticed by Telegram. A network that can double its subscriber count overnight, or add six new language audiences within days (as it did in August 2023 or July 2025) operates without triggering any visible intervention by the platform.<br>The obvious question is why such a network can continue expanding despite repeated public exposure.<br>Telegram’s obligations under the DSA<br>The story with Telegram and EU regulation is also about numbers. Under the DSA, a platform becomes a Very-Large Online Platform (VLOP) if it has more than 45 million active monthly users. Telegram's latest report states they are still below that threshold. Its obligations are therefore largely limited to tackling illegal content: providing users with mechanisms to report it, acting on those reports, and protecting minors' privacy and safety. Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines (VLOPSEs) obligations, such as identifying and mitigating systemic risks, do not apply.<br>Our content delivered to your inbox.<br>Join our newsletter on issues and ideas at the intersection of tech & democracy

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The “common sense network” relies on purchased bots, fake engagement, and automated or semi-automated activity to artificially amplify certain content and create the false impression of broader public interest than it actually has. While the content is not illegal, such inauthentic “news channels” undermine the integrity of the public debate. If Telegram were designated a VLOP, it would have to assess and mitigate systemic risks associated with coordinated manipulation.<br>Nothing, however, prevents Telegram from moderating this type of...