Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov on Thursday described his arrest by French authorities as “misguided” in his first public comments since his release on bail, but acknowledged his platform needs to do more to combat criminal abuse.
Telegram quietly updates its terms on tackling illegal content on Thursday as CEO Pavel Durov ... [+]
In a post 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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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 updated answer 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 including—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 abuse@telegram.org.
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.
Officials Confirm Arrest Of Billionaire Telegram CEO Pavel Durov In France: Here’s What We Know (Forbes)