Telegram has announced that it will begin providing user information to law enforcement and other relevant authorities when users are implicated in illegal activities.
Bloomberg reported that Telegram’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, made this announcement through a post on his Telegram channel. According to the post, Durov stated that the service’s terms of use have been changed to prevent criminals from abusing the platform. Bloomberg noted that this decision came about a month after French prosecutors arrested Durov on charges of conspiring to distribute child sexual abuse material. Durov was released after paying a bail of $5.5 million, but he is still prohibited from leaving France.
Previously, Telegram distinguished itself in the mobile messaging market by emphasizing user privacy and security. Based in the United Arab Emirates, Telegram was known for ignoring deletion requests from governments worldwide and disregarding information requests about criminal suspects. Due to this stance, Telegram has been praised in countries like Russia and Ukraine as a source of untainted information free from government interference. Still, it has also been criticized for becoming a hub for drug trafficking, organized crime, terrorism, and other illicit activities. In South Korea, it has mainly been identified as a source of deepfake sexual exploitation material.
However, moving forward, Telegram plans to provide user data, such as IP addresses and phone numbers, to authorities upon legitimate legal requests involving illegal activities. This shift is expected to reduce Telegram’s notoriety. Durov stated, “We will not allow a small number of users engaging in bad behavior to ruin the Telegram service for over a billion users.”
Durov also announced that he has intensified efforts to crack down on various illegal content within Telegram. He mentioned, “In recent weeks, we have used artificial intelligence to locate illegal content on Telegram and have taken steps to prevent users from accessing it.”
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