Telegram's founder and CEO Pavel Durov has announced a slew of measures on Sep. 23 that the platform has taken to improve its security features and safeguard its users against illegal activity.
In a message published to his Telegram channel with over 13 million followers, Durov shared that the search function on Telegram, which was designed to help users "find friends and discover news", saw individuals exploiting its capabilities for illegal means.
However, some people had taken advantage of the feature to sell illegal goods, which violates Telegram's Terms of Service, Durov shared.
To address this issue, Durov shared that a dedicated team of moderators, leveraging upon Artificial Intelligence (AI), had been working over the past few weeks to identify "all the problematic content", which is now "no longer accessible".
Durov also encouraged users to report unsafe or illegal activities that they encounter via a Telegram bot in the app
Authorities allowed to request for users IP addresses & phone numbers
Telegram's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy has also been updated.
Now, IP addresses and phone numbers can be disclosed to relevant authorities upon "valid legal requests".
Durov assured users that these changes are targeted at discouraging criminal activity on the app, and vowed not to let the integrity of the platform down.
Telegram users were seen to be supportive of the changes, with users reacting to Durov's message with emojis.
Currently, the messaging application has over 950 active million users globally.
Telegram was the fifth most used social media platform in Singapore as of 2023.
Some 47.8 per cent of internet users aged 16 to 64 use the app each month, according to a study conducted by We Are Social and Meltwater.
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Top photo from @Durov/Instagram, Telegram & Canva