Telegram to start moderating private chats, remove features used by abusers
File photo of the Telegram logo.
Weeks after the Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrestedin France, the messaging app is finally taking content moderation seriously. On Friday (Sep 6), the app removed some of the features that wereallegedly being used by abusers. Durov also admitted that “0.001 per cent of the users” were responsible for creating a bad image of the entire platform. "That’s why this year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise," he wrote.
Durov was placed under formal investigation in France for the alleged fraudand crimes on Telegram. Earlier, he was questioned by the authorities for four days before being released on bail. His arrest had raised concerns about the future of free speech online and whether the bosses of the messaging apps can be held responsible for the actions of the users.
Telegram also removed a feature called People Nearby which "had issues with bots and scammers" and would instead showcase legitimate, verified businesses in the vicinity of users.
However, inhis message to almost one billion users of the app, the Telegram founder didn’t lay out how he would achieve the goal.
Telegram’s actions were lauded by public policy experts.
Katie Harbath, a former public policy director at Meta who now advises companies on technology issues, reacted to Telegram’s announcement by saying, "It's good that Durov is starting to take content moderation seriously but, just like Elon and other tech CEOs who run speech platforms have found, if he thinks this will be as simple as making a few small changes, he's in for a rude awakening."
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Telegram has also seemingly changed its policy regarding private chats.
The company has now removed language from its Frequently Asked Questions page saying that it does not process reports about illegal content in private chats given that the chats are encrypted.
Previously, Durov had said his Telegram app was not perfect but labelling it as an “anarchic paradise” was absolutely false.
“The claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue. We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day," he wrote.
(With inputs from agencies)