CEO Pavel Durov stated in a Telegram post on Monday that the company’s terms of service and privacy policy have been changed, which “should discourage criminals”.
“The 0.001% of Telegram users engaged in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk, even though 99.999% of users have nothing to do with crime,” he went on.
For Mr. Durov, the co-founder of the platform who was born in Russia and was arrested by French police last month at an airport north of Paris, the announcement represents a dramatic about face.
Prosecutors there accused him of encouraging illegal behavior a few days later.
Shortly after his detention, Mr. Durov, who has refuted the accusations, blasted the authorities, calling their actions “surprising” and “misguided” for holding him accountable for crimes committed by third parties on the platform.
Critics claim that Telegram’s ability to have groups with up to 200,000 members is one of the reasons it has turned into a hub for false information, child pornography, and content tied to terrorism.
