After a year of ignoring to join the child protection network, controversial messaging app Telegram has agreed to work with an internationally recognized organization to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Internet Watch Foundation (IVF) is an organization that works to find, report and remove such content.
Telegram has been several times so far refused to join this or a similar organization.
But, four months since it's hers founder Pavel Durov arrested in Paris over Telegram's alleged failure to edit and delete extreme content, the platform has announced a turnaround.
IVF praised Telegram's decision, but warned that it was only the first step.
"By joining IVF, Telegram can begin to implement world-leading tools to ensure that this material cannot be shared on the platform," said Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO of IVF.
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'Darkweb in your pocket'
Telegram is used by around 950 million people around the world and has previously positioned itself as an app focused on user privacy rather than the norms prioritized by other global social networking companies.
But reports from the BBC and other media pointed to criminals who use the application to advertise drugs, as well as to offer cybercrime, fraud and, recently, CSAM, i.e. content depicting sexual abuse of children.
This led one expert to label Telegram as "the dark web in your pocket".
Billionaire Pavel Durov was detained in Paris in August for alleged violations related to the lack of moderation on the Telegram platform.
According to officials, he was accused of failing to cooperate with law enforcement regarding drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud that occurred on the Telegram channel.
Telegram previously said that their control "is within the standard and is constantly improving" and added that "it is absurd to claim that the platform or its owner is responsible for abuses".
French judges have banned the 40-year-old from leaving France pending an investigation.
The company claims that his arrest is illegal and that he should not be held responsible for what users do on the platform.
However, Telegram has since announced a number of changes in the way it works:
- The publication of IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate its rules will be turned over to the police in response to applicable legal requests.
- Disabling features like “people nearby” that he admitted have problems with bots and scammers.
- Publishing regular reports on how much problematic content has been removed, a standard practice Telegram has so far refused.
Durov also promised that "future content editing will turn Telegram from a criticized platform into a praised one."
Partnering with IVF appears to be the latest step in that process.
IVF is one of the few organizations in the world that can legally request the sexual content of children in order to remove it.
An ever-evolving list of known abusive content is used by detection and blocking websites to prevent further spread.
Telegram advertises itself as complete end-to-end an encrypted messaging service - meaning only the sender and recipient of the message can read it - such as Vocap and Signal.
But most communication is done using standard encryption, which raises the question of how safe it is from hacking and interception.
Durov, who was born in Russia and now lives in Dubai, holds citizenship of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Telegram is especially popular in Russia, Ukraine and countries of the former Soviet Union, as well as in Iran.
Watch the video: Who is Pavel Durov, the Russian billionaire and founder of Telegram
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