Published on: September 30, 2024
Telegram, the Russian-based private messaging company is changing its policies so that it will now share some user data with authorities. The move is meant to discourage customers from committing crimes using the platform.
Governments have been putting pressure on Telegram for years. Since anyone could use the chat service anonymously and Telegram wouldn’t share any data with authorities, criminals flocked to Telegram.
It became notorious for harboring ransomware gangs, illegal pornography distribution rings, cryptocurrency scammers, and cyber terror groups, among other online threats.
“While 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk,” explains Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in a Telegram post on Monday.
Before these changes, the app would only censor terror-related content, and it was widely criticized for being lax in what it targeted.
Now, Telegram uses a team of moderates and modern AI software to find illegal content and remove it from search results. In addition, Telegram must report the content to the local government if it is severe enough. This change of heart came after French authorities detained Telegram’s CEO in August.
The reversal caused alarm across multiple communities. One of the key questions on many users’ minds is if this means Telegram will continue to buckle to government pressures and lose its viability as a private messaging app.
“Telegram’s marketing as a platform that would resist government demands attracted people that wanted to feel safe sharing their political views in places like Russia, Belarus, and the Middle East,” Senior Researcher Scott-Railton shares. “Many are now scrutinizing Telegram’s announcement with a basic question in mind: does this mean the platform will start cooperating with authorities in repressive regimes?”