Telegram has disclosed criminal data to authorities for years, Durov says

The founder of the popular messaging app Telegram stated that the recently announced updates to the platform’s terms of service don’t represent a big change in how it interacts with law enforcement, as the company has been disclosing criminal data to authorities for years.

“My previous post may have seemed to announce a major shift in how Telegram works. But in reality, little has changed,” Pavel Durov said in a statement on Wednesday.

Last week, Durov said Telegram would provide the IP addresses and phone numbers of rule violators to relevant authorities in an effort to discourage "bad actors" from "jeopardizing the integrity" of the platform.

In the latest statement, he explained that the practice of disclosing the IP addresses and phone numbers of "dangerous criminals" had been in place long before last week. For this to occur, the company needed to receive a “properly formed legal request” and “conduct its legal analysis.”

According to Durov, his previous announcement was meant to highlight that Telegram "has streamlined and unified" its privacy policy across different countries. He didn’t provide further details but added that the company’s "core principles" remain unchanged.

“We’ve always strived to comply with relevant local laws — as long as they didn’t go against our values of freedom and privacy,” Durov added.

He said Telegram has already disclosed data for nearly 200 legal requests in Brazil this year. In India, the company’s largest market, Telegram has satisfied almost 7,000 legal requests since January. Recorded Future News couldn’t independently verify this data.

Durov also noted that the number of such requests in Europe has increased in recent months as "more EU authorities started to use the correct communication line for their requests."

Telegram’s data disclosure rules mainly target users who abuse the platform’s search feature to sell illegal goods.

In recent weeks, Telegram moderators have used artificial intelligence to make the platform’s search feature "much safer" and have made problematic content inaccessible, Durov said in a post last week.

Cybercrime experts noted that his announcement caused panic among account owners who use the platform for activities like trafficking drugs, distributing child pornography and laundering money. 

Hacktivist groups such as Ghosts of Palestine, RipperSec and Al Ahad have either declared their intentions to leave Telegram or have already begun setting up backup channels on the Discord or Signal apps.

Some criminals have even discussed creating a custom messaging platform using Telegram’s graphical user interface (GUI) as a foundation to continue their activities with less risk of exposure, according to a report by the Israel-based software company Kela.

“Despite these initial responses, there hasn’t yet been a mass exodus of cybercriminals from Telegram,” researchers said. “However, these discussions signal potential future movement as groups and individuals weigh their options in response to the platform’s shift.”