Telegram has removed part of a response to one of its frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding its content moderation nearly two weeks after French authorities arrested its CEO, Pavel Durov, for allegedly failing to moderate content on the app and allowing the spread of illegal content.
On Sept. 6, Telegram’s FAQ page removed language from its answer to how users can report illegal content that said: “All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them.”
That part of Telegram’s answer now only appears in a section on how users can report copyright infringement. A previous version of the page, archived on Sept. 5, shows Telegram used the lines to answer both questions.
Regarding the change, Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn told Cointelegraph, ”On Telegram you could always report messages from any group to moderators, this acts like forwarding. Private chats are still private too — although you could always report a new incoming chat to moderators by using Block > Report.”
“Anyone can check Telegram’s open-source code and see there were no changes,” Vaughn added. “The FAQ change only made it clearer how to report content on Telegram.”
A section of language that was removed from Telegram’s answer on illegal content moderation. Source: Internet Archive
The updated language answering the question on reporting illegal content now highlights Telegram’s “report” button, which lets users “flag illegal content for our moderators.”
On Sept. 5, Durov issued his first public statement since his August arrest in Paris. The Telegram CEO said he wanted to improve the app’s content moderation.
“Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform,” Durov said. “That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard.”
“We’ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon,” he added.
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The statement is a change in tone from an earlier statement from Telegram after Durov’s arrest, where the platform said its CEO had “nothing to hide” and added it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner” would be responsible for any misuse of that platform.
French authorities arrested Durov — a Russian-born French citizen — on Aug. 24 at an airport outside of Paris.
He was later indicted for allegedly allowing the spread of child sexual abuse content, drug trafficking, fraud and terrorism on the Telegram platform and was accused of failing to cooperate with law enforcement.
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Update (Sept. 9, 12.45 am UTC): This article has been updated to add comment from Telegram.