Business
Telegram U-turns and joins child safety scheme
After years of ignoring pleas to sign up to child protection schemes, the controversial messaging app Telegram has agreed to work with an internationally recognised body to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is used by major online services to help them detect and remove CSAM, and prevent its spread.
Telegram had repeatedly refused to engage with it or any similar scheme.
But, four months after its founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris for Telegram’s alleged failure to moderate extreme content, the platform has announced a U-turn.
The IWF has described Telegram’s decision as “transformational” but warned it was the first step in a “much longer journey” for the app.
“By joining the IWF, Telegram can begin deploying our world-leading tools to help make sure this material cannot be shared on the service,” said Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO at the IWF