Following the pledge made by the network’s founder, Pavel Durov, to combat abuse on the platform, the rule modification has been implemented.
The frequently asked questions section of Telegram has been secretly updated to remove language saying that the company does not control private and group chats, as reported by CoinDesk. A section with the header “There is content on Telegram that involves illegal activity.” As was said in the preceding question, “How do I take it down?” the content that is shared in conversations and group chats is left between the participants. On the other hand, the section now states that “all Telegram apps have ‘Report’ buttons,” which will provide users with a means of reporting anything that is deemed to be illegal to the moderators of the app. On iOS, users simply need to press and hold the message, while on Android, they simply need to tap it, and then select the Report option. Additionally, they have the ability to make a note of links to the content that they wish to report and then send an email to the takedown email address of the service, which is [email protected].
This modification is a result of Telegram chief Pavel Durov publishing his initial public response on his channel following his detention. Late in the month of August, Durov was taken into custody at a French airport as part of an inquiry being conducted by the authorities with regard to the absence of moderation on the app and its inability to prevent criminal activity. Despite the fact that he had already been freed from detention, he was charged with “complicity in distributing child pornography, illegal drugs, and hacking software” on the messaging app. Additionally, he was accused of “refusing to cooperate with investigations into illegal activity on the Telegram.”
It is believed that the French authorities informed Durov that he was detained due to the fact that they did not receive any responses from Telegram on their criminal investigation. This came as a surprise to the founder of the app, who explained in his article that Telegram has an official representative in the European Union and an email address that is accessible to the general public. In addition to this, he stated that the French authorities had a variety of channels through which they could contact him for assistance, and that he had even assisted them in the past in establishing a Telegram hotline to handle concerns regarding terrorist threats in the country. Furthermore, he referred to the decision made by the French authorities to “charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform” that they operate as a “misguided approach.” Because he believes that inventors can be held accountable for the misuse of the tools they create, he stated that they will not create any new tools in the future.
Durov also discussed the ways in which Telegram protects the fundamental rights of individuals, particularly in situations where such rights are abused. In the Russian Federation, for example, Telegram was banned because the service refused to hand over encryption keys that would enable authorities to monitor its users. He stated that the service removes “millions of harmful posts and channels every day,” produces transparency reports, and maintains direct hotlines with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the purpose of receiving urgent requests for moderation.
On the other hand, the CEO acknowledges that there is potential for improvement in Telegram. Its “abrupt increase in user count” to 950 million “caused growing pains” that made it simpler for criminals to abuse its platform. This has led to the growing number of users. “significantly improve things in this regard” is the goal that Telegram has set for itself, and the company has already begun the process internally. It is likely that the messaging service is making this modification to its regulations as part of its efforts to address the allegations made by the authorities that it has failed to fulfill its responsibility of preventing criminals from using its program. However, officials suspect that the site misled about its user counts in order to avoid being regulated under the Digital Services Act (DSA). It is important to remember that the business declared earlier this year that it has 41 million members in the area of the European Union.