Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, in his first public comments since being arrested by French authorities, emphasized that his platform is not an “anarchic paradise” and assured that Telegram is ramping up its moderation of harmful content.
Addressing the claims, Durov stated, “the claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue,” Durov wrote on Telegram recently. He highlighted the platform’s efforts by stating, “We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day. We publish daily transparency reports (like this or this). We have direct hotlines with NGOs to process urgent moderation requests faster.”
While Telegram has often been criticized, with entities like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) flagging its alleged non-cooperation on the removal of child sexual abuse material, Durov acknowledged that the platform’s rapid growth to 950 million users has created challenges in moderation.
Durov is currently not permitted to leave France following his indictment last week. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau accused Telegram of inadequate cooperation with law enforcement on issues related to crimes against minors, drug offenses, and online hate.
In a notable move, Telegram has updated its FAQ section on how it handles illegal content, implying a shift towards more robust moderation of private messages. An Internet Archive capture of the FAQ page highlighted the previous stance on privacy in all chats, which has since been revised to provide clearer instructions for reporting illegal content.
Durov concluded by reaffirming his commitment to bettering the platform’s moderation processes and promised to share details of these ongoing efforts in the near future.
Despite the controversy, Telegram continues to hold a significant user base. Although the app lacks default end-to-end encryption for group messages, users can enable the feature for one-on-one conversations and the app offers extensive social-network capabilities, including groups of up to 200,000 people and channels for public broadcasts.