Telegram's Cooperation with Authorities on Arrest: Sharing IP Addresses and Phone Numbers
The social media platform Telegram promises to better cooperate with international authorities to combat illegal practices. In a message on its own channel, founder Pavel Durov states that, with a court order, phone numbers and IP addresses can now be queried.
Telegram is known for providing its users with a great deal of freedom and intervening less in messages that others consider problematic. Critics argue that Telegram contributes to the spread of, for example, child pornography, hate speech, and drug trafficking.
Durov (39) was detained for four days in France last month because Telegram barely cooperates with police investigations. According to French authorities, this makes him guilty of promoting criminal activities on the network. Durov is allowed to await the process in freedom after paying a bail of 5 million euros, but he has been given a reporting obligation and a travel ban.
Cleaned Up
In reaction to his arrest, Durov now says that the rules have been sharpened a bit. "To scare criminals even further," the company can now "share the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who break our rules with the relevant authorities if there is a valid legal request." Previously, such a request was only approved if there was a terrorism suspicion.
It is not yet clear what the precise implementation of this change will be. Human rights organizations fear that repressive regimes now have a greater chance to prosecute dissidents. Advocates of more openness point out that users can still remain difficult to find by using encryption or a phone without a SIM card.
In addition to the promised cooperation with law enforcement agencies, Durov also announced that employees are using AI to remove "problematic content." He does not provide details on what has been removed offline, only that it involved things that violated Telegram's terms. Users are urged to report anything "insecure or illegal" they find.
"0.001 Percent Ruins It"
Durov explains that his service "is intended to find friends and news, not to advertise illegal things." He previously stated that "99.999 percent of users have nothing to do with crimes" and believes that the new policy is better for them. "We do not let the rotten apples jeopardize the integrity of our platform for nearly a billion users."
Incidentally, he remains critical of the French arrest. He calls it surprising and misplaced in his message. "New technologies and setups are already difficult enough. No pioneer will develop anything if they can be held personally responsible for its misuse."