Telegram’s Pavel Durov Says Will Hand Over Users Data To Authorities (image-instagram/durov)
Messaging app Telegram founder and chief executive Pavel Durov on Monday announced that all the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who have search warrants or other valid legal requests will be handed over to the authorities.
The announcement has come weeks after his arrest in France on charges of failing to act against criminals using the app.
The change to its terms of service and privacy policy “should discourage criminals”, CEO Pavel Durov said in a Telegram post on Monday.
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“Over the past few weeks” staff had combed through Telegram using artificial intelligence to ensure “all the problematic content we identified in Search is no longer accessible”, he said.
Durov further added that the platform had updated its terms of service and privacy policy to make clear that it would share infringers’ details with authorities. “We won’t let bad actors jeopardize the integrity of our platforms for almost a billion users,” he said.
Durov was arrested by the French authorities over suspected criminal activity on the platform, including gang transactions and trafficking. The Telegram owner was later released into police custody with bail set at $5.56 million as the probe unfolds.
Following his arrest, Telegram said Durov had “nothing to hide” and that it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform”. Two weeks after his arrest, Durov acknowledged that the app’s “abrupt increase” in users caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse the platforms.
“Search on Telegram is more powerful than in other messaging apps because it allows users to find public channels and bots,” Durov wrote. “Unfortunately, this feature has been abused by people who violated our Terms of Service to sell illegal goods.”
He also assured that a team of moderators aided by artificial intelligence has identified and removed “problematic content” from the public search feature.
“If you still manage to find something unsafe or illegal on Telegram Search, please report it to us via @SearchReport,” he said.
Durov further stated that Telegram Search is meant to find friends and discover news, not to promote illegal goods.
