A Quiet Concession: Telegram Changes Privacy Policies 2 Weeks After CEO’s Arrest

It’s been nearly two weeks since the arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram CEO, at an airport in France due to his supposed lack of reasonable action in preventing illegal activity on his platform, including fraud, illicit transactions and child pornography.

At the time, Durov and Telegram took a firm stance, boldly asserting that the European Union’s approach to the matter wasn’t the right way to go about things and that no individual ought to be held responsible for the illicit actions of others.

In his first public comment regarding his arrest on Thursday, Durov referred to the EU’s actions as a “misguided approach” to regulation. In the past, Durov, along with other popular figures including Elon Musk and Edward Snowden, has criticised the EU Union for getting dangerously close to censorship, with freedom of speech hanging precariously in the balance.

He went on to say that along with the freedom of speech issue was a very real risk that entrepreneurs would be unwilling to be innovative due to fear of having to take personal responsibility. This would have detrimental effects on the future of technological development.

However, recent changes in Telegram’s privacy policy have taken the industry, and the world, by surprise.

 

Telegram’s Edited Privacy Policy

 

Users and industry experts have been keeping a close eye on Telegram’s privacy policies since the controversy initially erupted, and after a few weeks of watching and waiting, there’s news to report.

Telegram has edited its privacy policy regarding the moderation of private chats. Initially, no moderation whatsoever was sanctioned on the app, and now users can report messages.

But, what exactly does the privacy policy say?

Well, before the change, Telegram’s policy clearly stated that all private and group chats are completely private and could only be accessed by participants. Telegram did not access messages at all, neither of their own accord or in response to requests.

This was part of what got the platform in trouble, as the European Union had requested that some kind of moderation process be implemented to prevent the spreading of illegal content and rhetoric.

Durov and Telegram denied this request, asserting that the regulations that the EU was trying to impose would result in a blanket moderation process, invading the privacy of innocent users and imposing a form of censorship, restricting free speech.

However, despite the earlier stance taken by the platform, its settings have changed. Now, according to Telegram’s own wording, the app has internal “report” buttons that allow users to flag problematic content that will then be sent out for moderation.

As well as existing in stark contrast to its earlier privacy policy that didn’t allow for any external moderation, this update seems to resemble Whatsapp’s policies fairly closely.

This is an interesting move since Whatsapp has also recently received heavy criticism but from the other side of the equation, so to speak. The Meta-owned application has always boldly advertised itself as offering end-to-end encryption which may argue implied absolute privacy, which is why users were surprised to find that there were, in fact, ways that moderators could access their private conversations.

Now, the access isn’t random – the recipient of a message needs to flag it as inappropriate in order for it to be mediated, a process which seems incredibly similar to Telegram’s new policy. Also, as much as many people were surprised and upset about this development, it doesn’t mean that Whatsapp has been dishonest – its messages are end-to-end encrypted.

Although Whatsapp received significant criticism about this, many experts assert that the platform’s approach may be the way to go, given the current industry regulations and issues regarding security and criminal activity online. There’s reason to believe that accepting this kind of moderation is a necessary concession to be able to continue to operate as an industry leader.

So, although Telegram and Durov seemed vehemently opposed to accepting any changes in policy that would result in a loss in user privacy, they now seem to have flipped sides.

 

 

A Quiet Concession

 

After being loud and outspoken about their position on the privacy of messages and free speech more generally, Telegram seems to have conceded quietly, having edited its privacy policy without a big public announcement.

It’s an interesting move, considering their earlier opposition to the European Union’s actions and even Whatsapp’s stance on moderation.

Does this equate to them whimpering away with their tale between their legs? Has the EU won the battle, and was Whatsapp on the right of this issue all along?

At this point, in light of Telegram’s editing of its policies, its lack of public announcement and the fact that Pavel Durov is still in custody and his charges are currently being investigated, it does seem like it’s EU 1:0 Telegram.

It’s unclear, at this point, what this will mean for Durov specifically, but many expect that this policy change will result in the charges being dropped and him being released imminently.

The future for Telegram, however, and the industry more generally – never mind the issue of free speech – is cloudy.

Only time will tell how Telegram and other platforms will move forward and what this will mean for potential censorship, free speech and ultimately, democracy.