Telegram responds to mounting criminal charges against CEO Pavel Durov with a new data privacy policy.
From this day forward, Telegram will start sharing users' IP addresses and phone numbers with authorities in case of search warrants and legal requests, BBC reported.
In the same report, Telegram explained that this new policy will discourage criminals from doing criminal activities on the messaging app. Durov stated that "99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with the crime," but 0.001% of criminals will not just make a bad image for the platform but also put billions of its users at risk.
Part of Durov's arrest involves allowing drug trafficking and child abuse images to spread in the app. The French prosecutor marked him "complicit" as the app failed to comply with law enforcement.
READ MORE: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France Over Enabling Criminal Activity on Platform
Criminal Activities in Telegram
Although Reuters learned that Durov denied the cases against him, critics of the platform say that it has become a "hotbed" of child pornography, misinformation, and terrorism, mainly because it allows groups to have 200,000 members at most. In comparison, Meta only has 1,000.
Critics say Telegram has become a hotbed of misinformation, child pornography, and terror-related content partly because of a feature that allows groups to have up to 200,000 members.
Per a VCPost report, Telegram has been encouraging criminal activities among young users due to a lack of legal consequences. In return, making it a haven for them and exposing vulnerable age groups to dangers.
Concerns on Free Speech
However, the arrest of Durov and Telegram's new data privacy policy has sparked a free speech debate.
In the BBC report, researchers question the platform's status for political dissidents or statements. Over the years, they argue that BBC marketed itself as a platform for those who feel safe sharing their political views and opinions, especially regarding countries in the Middle East and Russia.
With its new policy, users believe Telegram will only cooperate with "repressive regimes." Telegram has yet to clarify this matter, but before this change, it has supplied authorities with information on terror suspects.
Experts in the cybersecurity field believe Telegram's past moderation practices are weaker, thus prompting Durov to provide more dedicated moderators. The entire team will scan illegal content and notify authorities.
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