Messaging platform Telegram is making some new concessions around safety and user privacy after the arrest of its founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France last month.
Durov was arrested and interviewed by French prosecutors over suspected criminal activity on the platform, including gang transactions and trafficking, as well as an alleged failure by the company to hand over data related to the investigation. He was later released from police custody with bail set at $5.56 million as the probe unfolds.
The investigation sparked debate about free speech and criminal activity online, but the authorities’ concerns weren’t exactly a surprise. The app — which has amassed more than 950 million users, thanks in large part to encryption technology and promises of user privacy — has for years been criticized for its popularity among unsavory internet characters and criminals, including drug traffickers, money launderers and extremists, including White supremacists and terror groups such as ISIS.
Following his arrest, Telegram said Durov had “nothing to hide” and that it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.” Two weeks after his arrest, Durov acknowledged that the app’s “abrupt increase” in users caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform.
Now, Telegram is making some changes in an effort to reduce criminal activity on the platform, Durov said Monday in a post on the app. Chief among them: Telegram has updated its terms of service and privacy policy to note it will hand over the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate its rules to authorities in response to “valid legal requests.” The platform says it will disclose all user data that is shared with law enforcement officials in quarterly transparency reports.
“Search on Telegram is more powerful than in other messaging apps because it allows users to find public channels and bots,” Durov wrote. “Unfortunately, this feature has been abused by people who violated our Terms of Service to sell illegal goods.”
He added that a team of moderators aided by artificial intelligence has identified and removed “problematic content” from the public search feature. “If you still manage to find something unsafe or illegal on Telegram Search, please report it to us via @SearchReport,” Durov wrote.
Telegram did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment about how much content was removed and whether any channels or accounts were banned as a result.
“Telegram Search is meant for finding friends and discovering news, not for promoting illegal goods,” Durov said.
While the changes may mean less criminal activity on public areas of the platform, it won’t necessarily snuff out the illicit use of private, end-to-end encrypted chats, where Telegram says it has “no ways of deciphering the actual information” from conversations.
It’s unclear how the move to share some user data with law enforcement will impact the ongoing French investigation.
Telegram said it had previously cracked down on some content that violated its rules, which included restricting access to several channels associated with or operated by Hamas amid the militant group’s war with Israel. It also removed calls for violence after reports the app was used to organize far-right, anti-immigrant riots in the United Kingdom.
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