Controversial messaging app Telegram has agreed to work with an internationally recognized body to tackle the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after years of ignoring calls to join child protection schemes.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) works to detect and remove CSAM from major online services and prevent its spread.
Telegram repeatedly refused to participate With that or a similar plan.
But 4 months later Founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris. Claiming that Telegram had failed to moderate extreme content, the platform announced a U-turn.
The IWF described Telegram’s decision as ‘transformative’ but warned that it was the first step in a ‘much longer journey’ for the app.
“Joining IWF allows Telegram to begin deploying world-leading tools to help ensure this material is not shared on our services,” said Derek Ray-Hill, interim CEO of IWF.
Telegram has an estimated 950 million users worldwide and has previously positioned itself as an app focused on protecting users’ privacy over the policy norms prioritized by other global social media companies.
However, reports by the BBC and other media organizations emphasized that criminals using apps Providing drug advertising, cybercrime and fraud services; Most recently CSAM.
One expert called it “the dark web in your pocket.”
In August, the billionaire owner was detained at an airport north of Paris.
Mr. Durov is accused of failing to cooperate with law enforcement for drug trafficking, child sexual content, and fraud.
French judges have banned the 40-year-old from leaving the country pending further investigations.
The company maintains this. His arrest is unfair.We are not responsible for what users do on the platform.
Nonetheless, Telegram has since announced a series of changes to the way it operates, including:
- The IP addresses and phone numbers of those who break the rules will be passed on to police upon valid legal requests.
- It disables features like “People Nearby,” which it admits has problems with bots and scammers.
- We publish regular transparency reports on how much content is removed. This is a standard industry practice that we previously refused to adhere to.
Mr. Durov also pledged to “shift Telegram’s moderation from the realm of criticism to the realm of praise.”
The partnership with the IWF appears to be the latest step in that process.
IWF is one of the few organizations in the world that can legally detect and take down child sexual content.
An ever-evolving list of known abusive content is used to detect and block matches on websites to prevent their spread.
Telegram said it used its own systems to remove hundreds of thousands of pieces of abusive material each month before becoming an IWF member. IWF membership will strengthen the mechanism, the company said.
The app is marketed as a fully end-to-end encrypted messaging service. This means, like WhatsApp and Signal, only the sender and recipient of the message can read it.
But in reality, most communications are done with standard encryption, which raises questions about how safe they are from hacking and interception.
Mr. Durov, who was born in Russia and currently lives in Dubai, has citizenship of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Telegram is particularly popular in Iran, as well as Russia, Ukraine, and former Soviet Union countries.
