Telegram CEO Durov Says App To Provide More Data To Governments

Messaging app Telegram will provide users' IP addresses and phone numbers to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests, according to Chief Executive Officer Pavel Durov. From a report: The platform changed its terms of service to deter criminals from abusing it, Durov said in a post on Telegram Monday. The move comes less than a month after his arrest in France, where he faces charges of alleged complicity in the spread of child sexual abuse materials.

The move represents a marked difference from Telegram's approach to government requests for data and its reputation for lax moderation. The United Arab Emirates-based platform has been notoriously non-responsive to takedown requests from governments around the world, and often ignored requests for information about suspected criminals.

Like any other third world country

[ArmoredDragon]

"Hold one of them hostage until the company complies with censorship demands"

Re:

[ShanghaiBill]

Authoritarians everywhere rejoice.

“So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause” --Padmé Amidala

Re:

[nightflameauto]

They don't gotta burn the books they just remove 'em. Not to mention criminals are using Telegram to commit crimes. How do you censor breaking the law?

Easy! Become a politician!

Next?

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[Whateverthisis]

Do you really think he wasn't giving information already to the various governments out there? Telegram was where criminals congregated; it was a great place for governments to get information on where they were. His defiance to world governments meant criminals would go there more, but Telegram is not technically very sophisticated; governments could easily be reading messages there. In addition there is no way that Durov, a clear narcissist, had any loyalty to freedom of speech or any of his users; his

Re: Like any other third world country

[drinkypoo]

"France has grown more hawkish lately in their support of Ukraine?"

As this conflict continues the chance that Russia will wind up winning and then continuing to attack additional neighbors for their resources increases. They would be stupid not to increase their support.

Non-register-walled link

[jenningsthecat]

https://www.xda-developers.com/telegram-surrender-data-to-governments/

The Bloomberg link might have more information, but I wasn't willing to register to find out.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what Matrix is but it's not very popular and all the clients suck.

Places like Mastodon and Lemmy are decentralized too but they're too full of very specific types of people, so much so that anyone not part of the group is beat up and kicked down.

The main problem is that these decentralized systems tend to be pure democracies and pure democracies really suck. Or if not a democracy it's anarchy which is just as bad. Both systems cater to mobs.

Signal is still the best secure communicator but it's not re

When criminals use cars, or banks, or guns, or...

[Valgrus Thunderaxe]

in the commission of crimes, they never go after these types of companies.

Re:

[rcb1974]

Or if someone uses a phone to commit a crime, they don't go prosecuting the phone company. Oh I forgot, that's because governments already listen to all your phone calls and read all your texts in violation of your constitutional right to privacy.

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[davidwr]

[When criminals use cars, or banks, or guns, or...] in the commission of crimes, they never go after these types of companies.

Those companies "play ball." In my country, cars have vehicle identification numbers (and license plates). Banks have "know your customer" and "report suspected money-laundering" laws. Most* if not all factory-built guns have serial numbers and possibly test-fire results.

* There may be exceptions for some not-likely-to-be-used-in-a-crime reproduction-antiques and other special cases

unfortunate for privacy advocates

[LazarusQLong]

but in order to operate in a country, that country will require you to follow their laws... So, there ya go. no more privacy for people in war zones or under oppressive regimes (and other people, but those are the ones most needing privacy in my tiny mind)