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In a on his Telegram feed, Durov said using pre-smartphone era laws “to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach.”
Durov also rejected what he said was the media’s characterization of Telegram as “some sort of anarchic paradise,” saying the platform takes down “millions of harmful posts and channels every day.”
The billionaire, however, acknowledged “voices” saying the platform’s moderation work has been inadequate, and said Telegram’s “abrupt increase in user count” to 950 million has “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”
Durov said he has made it his personal goal “to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard.”
The Telegram CEO didn’t offer any details about how the platform was acting on these issues, only saying the company has “already started that process internally” and will share more details “very soon.”
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News Peg
Telegram quietly updated its FAQ (frequently asked questions) page on Thursday, signaling a major revamp in how it moderates illegal content. Previously, the answer to the question “There’s illegal content on Telegram. How do I take it down?” started with “All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them.” The now says: “All Telegram apps have ‘Report’ buttons that let you flag illegal content for our moderators — in just a few taps.” Users can now tap on any message on the app and have the option to “Report” it. After pressing the report button, users can select a reason such as spam, violence, child abuse, illegal drugs, personal details, pornography, or others. It is unclear how this change affects Telegram’s handling of law enforcement requests. Telegram has also added the option to request an automated takedown of a post by emailing its link to [email protected].
Crucial Quote
In his post, Durov said his company continues to engage with regulators on finding a balance between privacy and security. He then said: “Sometimes we can’t agree with a country’s regulator on the right balance between privacy and security. In those cases, we are ready to leave that country. We’ve done it many times,” giving the examples of Russia and Iran.
Key Background
Durov was at the Le Bourget Airport near Paris last month, shortly after landing from Azerbaijan. The Russian-born billionaire is now a citizen of both France and the United Arab Emirates. After being held for four days, charged with related to illicit activity on Telegram, including enabling illegal transactions in an organized group and refusing to cooperate with law enforcement authorities. Durov was released from detainment on a $5.5 million (€5 million) bail, but the billionaire is required to check in with police twice a week and is not allowed to leave France. Earlier said French authorities began investigating Telegram in July for enabling criminal activity including the distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug sales, money laundering and refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Source: Forbes
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