Several San Francisco supervisors, mostly city council members, are reportedly using a messaging app called Telegram, an app that has a self-destructing feature to delete messages in a certain period of time.
In a report by Business Insider, the San Francisco lawmakers are alleged of using the app as a way to bypass public records and evade public scrutiny. Accordingly, one unidentified government staff member testified that they were encouraged to use the app for the aforementioned purposes.
However, Yahoo News reported that California law states that texts and emails are considered to be part of the public record if the officials' conversations are related to public business. Telegraph uses encrypted messages so the conversations can only be read by the intended recipient.
The alleged supervisors have been identified as Aaron Peskin, David Campos, Jane Kim, John Avalos, and Malia Cohen. All of them were said to be in "active" status when they were questioned regarding the app. Campos became inactive on the app after they were messaged by the media publication San Francisco Examiner.
A statement was released by Avalos saying he has downloaded the app on his mobile phone but most of the time uses texts and emails. Avalos added he expects all his communication to be subjected to laws. He added, "I have Telegram but rarely use it. I did coordinate on the tow fees using Telegram. It was more versatile for such work than my standard iPhone text." Other supervisors alleged of using the messaging app have not responded for a comment yet.
The creator of the app, Pavel Durov, said in a statement that he helped launch Telegram as they wanted to build a means of communication that cannot be accessed by the Russian security agencies.
This is not the first time that Telegram has been on the spotlight. It was said to be used by Islamic State militants to spread propaganda in the past. Telegram had to shut down around 80 channels back in November due to the said issue.
