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On September 6, the CEO and Founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov — who faces up to 20 years in jail or more if convicted by French courts — announced new security and privacy features for Telegram.
Durov, facing preliminary charges for allowing alleged criminal activity on Telegram, said Telegram is committed to transforming “moderation from an area of criticism into one of praise”.
But is this 180 cultural shift in moderation policies too little too late, or is it an honest effort to make Telegram more secure?
Key Takeaways
- Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, faces up to 20 years in jail over alleged criminal activity on the platform.
- Durov has announced new security and moderation features, aiming to improve Telegram’s image.
- Critics question whether these changes are too little too late or genuine efforts to curb illegal use.
- Experts believe Durov’s 0.001% criminal user claim is unrealistic and downplays the platform’s issues.
- This case could set a precedent for government actions against tech leaders over platform misuse.
The Unexpected Post: Telegram Now Wants to Be ‘Praised for Moderation’
Setting a new chapter in the Telegram scandal, Durov took to his own platform to announce the phase-out of old features and the arrival of new ones.
Durov spoke directly about criminal rates on the platform.
“While 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk.”
Durov also announced that new media uploads to blogging tool Telegraph have been disabled because they were being misused by anonymous actors. Additionally, Telegram replaced the ‘People Nearby’ feature (abused by threat actors) with ‘Businesses Nearby’.
According to the CEO, this new feature will only showcase legitimate and verified businesses, excluding bots and scammers.
In a normal situation, this type of communication would be welcomed with open arms by almost everyone. After all, who does not want a social media messaging app to be safe for its users? However, what is developing on Telegram is far from normal.
Irina Tsukerman, geopolitical analyst and national security and human rights lawyer,?told Techopedia that the announcements seem more like a fig leaf, if not worse — an effort to disguise ongoing activity with symbolic measures.
“Moderation without enforcement does not amount to much, and there is no guarantee that criminal activity will, in fact, be reported and stopped by the moderators.”
Paul Bischoff, Consumer Privacy Advocate at Comparitech, also spoke to Techopedia about the new announcement.
“Telegram is scrambling to improve its public image as its CEO faces criminal charges in France.
“Durov specifically mentions moderation but doesn’t go into details. Telegram has historically been opposed to moderation, but that could change now that Durov’s neck is on the line.”
Are Only 0.001% of Telegram Users Criminals? Experts Answer
One of the strangest statements made by Durov relates to the number of criminals that operate on its platform. Durov said:
“While 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk.”
Jake Williams, former NSA hacker,? Faculty at IANS Research, and VP of R&D at Hunter Strategy, spoke to Techopedia about the 0.001% number.
“Common sense alone tells us that number is wildly off.
“To put it in perspective, about 0.7% of the U.S. population is currently incarcerated. That’s more than two orders of magnitude higher than Durov’s claim.
“Adding the fact that the platform is known by criminals as a safe harbor for doing business, we move from the claim being ‘wildly off’ to ‘delusional’.”
Spinning and Washing to Influence the Court of Public Opinion?
It’s quite common for company leaders or organizations that face a scandal and are charged with a crime to issue public statements and implement new policies. This is a known damage control legal strategy that attempts to shift public opinions in their favor and repair reputation damages.
Durov already has countless supporters who say his arrest is an attack on freedom of speech, and a conviction would set a dangerous precedent for the world of social media.
Tuskerman said that transparency and legal proceedings and obligations are what sway courts.
“Without transparent evidence, there is no reason anyone should take Durov’s word for it.
“Even if the number of criminal users is only a fraction of the total number if they are engaged in a significant number of criminal activity — as the charges against Durov indicate — he still had an obligation to comply with requests for cooperation and take measures to disrupt or prevent criminal activity.”
Security reports indicate that the number of criminals using Telegram is much bigger than what Durov’s comment admits.
“Durov seems to be downplaying the threats on his platform and making excuses rather than taking responsibility.”
Williams from IANS said Telegram faces a fundamental trade-off between content moderation and its reputation for security.
“Telegram can either do content moderation on its platform or advertise itself as a secure messaging platform.
“It can’t do both simultaneously.”
Techopedia asked Williams if Telegram is really transforming into a new secure platform or if it is just washing its negative image.
“No platform wants criminals operating on it, but the question is how much you’re willing to invest to prevent it. Every change to hurt criminals will increase costs and introduce some friction for users.
“I suspect the end result will be washing the current negative image, regardless of intent.”
Tsukerman warned that there is no indication that Telegram is transforming. Removing a few features and adding moderation — especially without specific evidence of links between these steps and the downturn in criminal activity — is not the same as redesigning the entire platform.
“Durov is not even patching up code vulnerabilities, merely appealing to the public to proclaim innocence and demonstrate goodwill for users who will take his word for it.”
Chris Hauk, Consumer Privacy Champion at Pixel Privacy, told Techopedia that this case could change the relationship between governments and popular apps.
“I believe we’ll see an increase in situations like this, where the government may arrest CEOs, executives, and app developers if the country feels there is evidence that the apps or services they create are providing ways for bad actors to facilitate their nefarious actions.”
The Bottom Line
The Telegram case is a Pandora’s box with countless high-level moving parts in play. From national interest to intelligence black ops, online crime, and freedom of speech, Durov’s case has all the right elements to make many powerful people very uncomfortable.
At this point, Durov’s announcement looks more like a legal chess play, to backtrack mistakes and announce how much he is willing to put down on the negotiation table.
