Telegram changes its tone on moderating private chats after CEO’s arrest

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Telegram has quietly removed language from its FAQ page saying private chats were protected and that “we do not process any requests related to them.” The change comes nearly two weeks after its CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France for allegedly allowing “criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app." In response, Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn says the app’s source code has not changed. “Private chats are still private too – although you could always report a new incoming chat to moderators by using Block > Report. Anyone can check Telegram’s open source code and see there were no changes,” writes Vaughn in a statement shared with The Verge. Earlier on Thursday evening, Durov issued his first public statement since his arrest, promising to moderate content more on the platform, a noticeable change in tone after the company initially said he had “nothing to hide.” “Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform,” he wrote in the statement shared on Thursday. “That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We’ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon.” I'm still trying to understand what happened in France. But we hear the concerns. I made it my personal goal to prevent abusers of Telegram's platform from interfering with the future of our 950+ million users.My full post below. https://t.co/cDvRSodjst— Pavel Durov (@durov) September 5, 2024 Some of those changes appear to be already taking effect: the company’s FAQ page has changed in the last 24 hours. Take one section titled, “There’s illegal content on Telegram. How do I take it down?” As of September 5th, Telegram’s response to the question read, “All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them.” But at the time of this writing, those sentences have been removed. Instead, they’ve been replaced with, “All Telegram apps have ‘Report’ buttons that let you flag illegal content for our moderators — in just a few taps,” followed by instructions on how to report messages. In a message sent to The Verge, Telegram spokesperson Vaughn writes: On Telegram you could always report messages from any group to moderators, this acts like forwarding. Private chats are still private too – although you could always report a new incoming chat to moderators by using Block > Report. Anyone can check Telegram's open source code and see there were no changes. The FAQ change only made it clearer how to report content on Telegram, including via DSA. The removed language was never related to content reporting. Telegram’s press line didn’t immediately respond to a question about what the removed language was related to or how it handles the requests. Durov’s arrest came as French authorities issued preliminary charges saying the messaging platform is being used for distributing child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking and that the company refused to cooperate with investigators, according to The Associated Press. Update, September 6th: Added response from Telegram and updated headline.

Sep 10, 2024 - 16:27

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Telegram changes its tone on moderating private chats after CEO’s arrest

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Telegram has quietly removed language from its FAQ page saying private chats were protected and that “we do not process any requests related to them.” The change comes nearly two weeks after its CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France for allegedly allowing “criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app."

In response, Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn says the app’s source code has not changed. “Private chats are still private too – although you could always report a new incoming chat to moderators by using Block > Report. Anyone can check Telegram’s open source code and see there were no changes,” writes Vaughn in a statement shared with The Verge.

Earlier on Thursday evening, Durov issued his first public statement since his arrest, promising to moderate content more on the platform, a noticeable change in tone after the company initially said he had “nothing to hide.”

“Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform,” he wrote in the statement shared on Thursday. “That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We’ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon.”

I'm still trying to understand what happened in France. But we hear the concerns. I made it my personal goal to prevent abusers of Telegram's platform from interfering with the future of our 950+ million users.

My full post below. https://t.co/cDvRSodjst— Pavel Durov (@durov) September 5, 2024

Some of those changes appear to be already taking effect: the company’s FAQ page has changed in the last 24 hours. Take one section titled, “There’s illegal content on Telegram. How do I take it down?”

As of September 5th, Telegram’s response to the question read, “All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them.”

But at the time of this writing, those sentences have been removed. Instead, they’ve been replaced with, “All Telegram apps have ‘Report’ buttons that let you flag illegal content for our moderators — in just a few taps,” followed by instructions on how to report messages.

In a message sent to The Verge, Telegram spokesperson Vaughn writes:

On Telegram you could always report messages from any group to moderators, this acts like forwarding. Private chats are still private too – although you could always report a new incoming chat to moderators by using Block > Report. Anyone can check Telegram's open source code and see there were no changes.
The FAQ change only made it clearer how to report content on Telegram, including via DSA. The removed language was never related to content reporting.

Telegram’s press line didn’t immediately respond to a question about what the removed language was related to or how it handles the requests.

Durov’s arrest came as French authorities issued preliminary charges saying the messaging platform is being used for distributing child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking and that the company refused to cooperate with investigators, according to The Associated Press.

Update, September 6th: Added response from Telegram and updated headline.