Telegram says it will share phone numbers and IP addresses of ‘bad actors’ to authorities

The popular messaging service Telegram has updated its terms of service to discourage “bad actors” from “jeopardizing the integrity” of the platform, according to its founder Pavel Durov.

Durov said on Monday that Telegram will now disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate the app’s rules to relevant authorities “in response to valid legal requests.”

Previously, Telegram had only committed to disclosing users' phone numbers and IP addresses if it received a court order confirming the user was suspected of terrorism. According to Telegram’s transparency report, that has never happened before.

The new policy applies to users suspected of any violation of Telegram’s rules. The company said that before disclosing user data, it will “conduct a legal analysis” of the request from the authorities. These measures will be “consistent across the world,” according to Durov.

The updated rules target, among others, users who abuse Telegram’s search feature to sell illegal goods. 

“Telegram search is meant for finding friends and discovering news, not for promoting illegal goods,” Durov emphasized.

In recent weeks, Telegram moderators have used artificial intelligence to make the platform’s search feature “much safer,” and according to Durov the flagged problematic content has been made inaccessible.

Telegram’s new privacy policy comes as the Russia-born CEO is being formally investigated in France for a range of offenses, including complicity in facilitating the distribution of child pornography and drug sales on the platform.

Law enforcement and security researchers have extensively documented illegal activity on Telegram, including recruitment and organizing among extremist groups.  

Following the investigation, Durov wrote on his Telegram channel that he aims to make his app “safer and stronger.”

“Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform,” Durov wrote. “That’s why I’ve made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve in this regard.”