Telegram, the messaging app with around 950 million users worldwide, has finally agreed to work with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to combat child sexual abuse material (CSAM), marking a significant shift in its approach to content moderation.
The decision comes four months after Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in Paris for allegedly failing to moderate extreme content. Previously, Telegram had repeatedly refused to engage with child protection schemes, positioning itself as an app prioritizing user privacy over traditional social media content policies.
Reporting from the BBC and other news organizations had highlighted the platform’s misuse by criminals for advertising drugs, offering cybercrime services, and sharing CSAM, leading one expert to describe Telegram as “the dark web in your pocket.”
Durov was detained at an airport near Paris and is accused of not cooperating with law enforcement regarding drug trafficking, child sexual content, and fraud. French judges have barred him from leaving the country pending further investigations. While Telegram maintains that Durov’s arrest is unfair, the company has since announced several significant changes:
1. Sharing IP addresses and phone numbers of rule violators with police through valid legal requests
2. Disabling features like “people nearby” that were prone to bot and scammer activities
3. Committing to publish regular transparency reports, a practice it previously rejected
The partnership with the IWF represents a crucial step in Telegram’s moderation efforts. The IWF is one of the few organizations legally authorized to search for and help remove child sexual content. Its continuously updated list of known abuse content helps websites detect and block such material.
Telegram claims it was already removing hundreds of thousands of pieces of abusive content monthly using its own systems. The IWF membership is expected to further strengthen these mechanisms.
Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO of the IWF, described the decision as “transformational” but emphasized it is only the first step in a longer journey of improvement.
An interesting note about Telegram’s encryption is that while it markets itself as a fully end-to-end encrypted messaging service similar to WhatsApp and Signal, the majority of its communication actually uses standard encryption, raising questions about its actual security.
Durov, who was born in Russia and now resides in Dubai, holds citizenship in multiple countries, including Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and St Kitts and Nevis. The app is particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine, former Soviet Union states, and Iran.
Durov has personally committed to transforming Telegram’s moderation from an area of criticism to one of praise, with the IWF partnership appearing to be a significant move towards that goal.
