After Durov’s arrest in Paris
Telegram wants to provide more data to the judiciary
24.09.2024, 01:19
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The online service Telegram prides itself on giving out almost no data to state authorities. After the surprise arrest of Telegram boss Durow in Paris, there has now been a U-turn. In future, the judiciary will receive IP addresses and cell phone numbers of suspects.
Telegram boss Pavel Durov has announced closer cooperation between his online service and law enforcement authorities. At the request of courts, the “IP addresses and cell phone numbers of those who violate our rules” could in future be passed on to the authorities, Durov wrote on Telegram. According to him, “problematic content” has also been deleted from the platform in recent weeks with the help of artificial intelligence.
Since its founding in 2013, Telegram has established itself as an alternative to US platforms. The online service generally refuses to release user data to authorities. Exceptions were previously only made for cases in which users were classified as terrorist suspects by a court. The company’s new data protection policy now generally refers to the suspicion of “criminal acts”. At the same time, Telegram will carry out a legal assessment of the request before passing on the information. The IP address can, under certain circumstances, provide clues to a user’s whereabouts.
Telegram boss is not allowed to leave France
Durow was unexpectedly arrested in France at the end of August. The French judiciary accuses the 39-year-old billionaire of, among other things, not doing enough to combat the spread of criminal and extremist content on Telegram. Durow was released on bail, but is not allowed to leave France for the time being.
In a statement in early September, he said it was “surprising” that he was being held responsible for the content shared by other people on his platform. However, he admitted that the rapidly increasing number of users of the online service “causes growing pains that make it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.” He had therefore made it his personal goal to “significantly improve things in this regard.”