Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said the messaging app would now hand over users’ IP addresses and phone numbers upon legal request. Bloomberg, which first reported the policy change, noted that Telegram has historically been “notoriously unresponsive to takedown requests” and “often ignored requests for information about suspects.”
This development also comes with the introduction of moderation: Telegram has started using an AI and human moderation team to remove “problematic” content from search results, Durov said. Durov also urged users to report unsafe or illegal content to the team for removal.
It’s unclear to what extent these changes will affect Telegram’s popularity among those engaged in illegal activity (or authorities’ ability to prosecute them). While IP addresses and phone numbers may be useful for triangulating a user’s activity elsewhere, Telegram users can opt into multiple layers of anonymization features, including disappearing messages, end-to-end encryption, and the ability to use the service without a SIM card. The service’s FAQ goes on to boast that “to date, we have disclosed 0 bytes of user messages to third parties, including governments.”
In August, Durov was arrested in France and ordered to remain there for crimes he committed on Telegram, charges he denies.
