Study says Telegram app using algorithm that promotes extremist content

Popular instant messaging service Telegram is under scrutiny. Citing a study, a report by BBC on Monday (Dec 16) said that Telegram has been using an algorithm that promotes extremist content.

The study was conducted by theUS civil rights organisation the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). It found that the "similar channels" feature (on Telegram) recommended extremist channels even to users browsing subjects such as celebrities or technology.

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Users browsing mundane topics were recommended extreme content

Researchers at SPLC looked at 28,000 (similar) channels for the study. The agency found that users browsing mundane topics would be recommended extreme content.

On the other hand, users looking at one form of extreme content, such as anti-government conspiracies,would be pushed towards other extremist ideologies, such as antisemitism or white nationalism.

A look at the extreme content

Speaking to BBC, lead researcher of the study,MeganSquire, demonstrated how the algorithm works by searching for "Donald Trump" in a newly set up Telegram account.

Immediately in the "similar channels" recommendations were multiple examples of channels promoting the QAnon conspiracy.

A search for the August riots in the United Kingdom (UK) showed a meme aboutAdolf Hitler as the first result, followed by suggestions for a series of channels run by violent far-right groups.

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In the hours after the knife attack in Southport, which sparked off the riots, Telegram usersposted some of the first calls for protest, along with false claims that the suspected attacker was an asylum seeker.

"You're not just on Telegram getting memes, you're getting shuffled into actual events. They're having events on the ground with people showing up," Squire told BBC.

(With inputs from agencies)