A picture taken on November 8, 2021 in Moscow shows the mobile messaging and call service Telegram logo on a smartphone screen. - A Moscow court on November 8 ordered fresh fines for US tech giant Google and Russian-founded encrypted messaging service Telegram, accusing the companies of not removing illegal content. Russia has piled fines on the world's biggest tech companies in recent months, with authorities accusing them of not moderating their content properly and interfering in the country's affairs. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
Telegram, which has over 950 million users, has chosen not to join key international programs designed to fight online child abuse.
According to BBC, the company is not part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) or the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which work with other online platforms to find and remove harmful content. Despite being asked multiple times by these organizations, Telegram has decided not to take part in these efforts.
Telegram's refusal to join child protection programs comes amid founder and CEO, Pavel Durov's detention in France. In a VCPost report, he's currently facing accusations of not cooperating with authorities on issues like drug trafficking, child sexual content, and fraud.
In defense, POLITICO shared that Telegram has maintained that its moderation practices are "within industry standards and constantly improving." However, its lack of engagement with NCMEC's CyberTipline, which includes over 1,600 internet companies, and the IWF, has drawn criticism. These organizations use their services to proactively find and remove confirmed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the internet.
While Telegram does remove CSAM once it is confirmed, the company has been criticized for its slower response times compared to other platforms.
In addition to avoiding child protection programs, Telegram's transparency practices have also come under scrutiny. Per Worcester Telegram, unlike most social networks that publish regular transparency reports detailing content takedowns, Telegram's approach is described as "semiannual," and it lacks a comprehensive public library of these reports.
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