As spotted by 404 Media, Telegram’s law enforcement policy previously only applied to terror suspects, saying: “If Telegram receives a court order that confirms you’re a terror suspect, we may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities.”
Telegram says it will disclose whether it provided user information to authorities in its quarterly transparency reports.
Telegram’s lax moderation policies have made the platform a popular spot for criminals. A recent report from The New York Times uncovered thousands of channels with ties to terrorism, child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, and extremism.
Along with changing Telegram’s privacy policy, Durov says moderators are using AI to identify and remove “problematic content” from the platform’s search feature. Earlier this month, Telegram changed its language surrounding private chat moderation. It also disabled the “misused” People Nearby feature and paused media uploads to its anonymous blogging tool, Telegraph.
As Telegram attempts to reverse its shady reputation, it will likely make even more changes to the platform’s approach to illegal content and moderation.
Published: 2024-09-23T14:59:03