A New York Instances evaluation of greater than 3.2 million Telegram messages from 16,000 channels discovered that the messaging platform has been “inundated” with unlawful and extremist exercise.
Particularly, The Instances discovered 1,500 channels operated by white supremacists, two dozen channels promoting weapons, and at the least 22 channels the place MDMA, cocaine, heroin and different medicine have been marketed for supply.
The corporate’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France final month, with authorities alleging that Telegram’s lack of content material moderation made Durov an confederate to criminal activity on the platform.
The platform subsequently up to date its web site to permit abuse experiences, and Durov has been posting on his Telegram channel, arguing, “Utilizing legal guidelines from the pre-smartphone period to cost a CEO with crimes dedicated by third events on the platform he manages is a misguided strategy.”
