Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said Monday that the popular messaging platform will now share user details with authorities of those who violate the rules of the app. The move comes following his own arrest by French authorities last month, due in part to a lack of cooperation over illicit activities allegedly taking place on the platform.
Durov said in a post on Telegram that the company had updated its terms of service, and that it is now actively blocking the ability to search for illicit goods and activities via search. Users who still try to share illegal content to be accessible via Telegram search could now have their IP addresses and phone numbers passed to authorities.
"Telegram search is meant for finding friends and discovering news, not for promoting illegal goods," the post reads.
Is Crypto to Blame for Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s Arrest?
In the wake of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s bombshell arrest in France last weekend and subsequent criminal indictment, much is still uncertain—particularly, how the high-stakes drama will impact Telegram’s massive crypto ambitions. This year, Telegram became perhaps the most prominent company to ever jump with both feet into the cryptosphere. The dominant messaging service encouraged the proliferation of an ecosystem of on-chain, in-app games and services powered by Telegram’s blockchain of choi...
He continued: "We've made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules can be disclosed to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests."
Durov said that the Telegram team was using artificial intelligence to make Telegram search "much safer." As a result, "problematic content" now no longer shows up via the app's search bar. The feature allows people to look for groups, chats, and contacts.
French authorities arrested the CEO of the encrypted messaging app Telegram last month. The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office alleged that Telegram was complicit in allowing illegal material to be shared on the platform, and was not responsive to law enforcement requests.
French authorities also alleged that Durov is under investigation for using certain types of cryptography on the platform in the country without permission.
‘Hamster Kombat’ Reveals Airdrop Allocations—But You Can’t Claim All the Tokens on Day One
Leading Telegram crypto game Hamster Kombat is gearing up for its token launch on Thursday, and over the weekend, the developers told players how many tokens they’ll be able to claim. But there’s a twist. According to a tweet from the Hamster Kombat team, players won’t be able to claim their entire HMSTR token allocation on day one. Instead, they can claim 88.75% of the allotment, with the remaining 11.25% of tokens forced to vest for 10 months before it can be claimed—in July 2025, presumably....
The Russian-born tech entrepreneur paid a €5 million bond ($5.5 million) to be released, but is under judicial supervision and cannot leave France.
Durov prides Telegram on being private, but criminals and fraudsters have allegedly flocked to the platform—which has nearly one billion users around the globe—to sell drugs, push crypto scams, or share child abuse images.
TON Price Pumps After Telegram Says It Will Share Ad Revenue via Crypto
Telegram, the privacy-focused online messaging platform, announced Wednesday that it will begin splitting ad revenue with creators with payouts exclusively in Toncoin (TON). Within moments, the price of TON—a project that was initially developed within Telegram before being continued independently—spiked a whopping 31% to a high not seen in over two years. Beginning Friday, Telegram channel owners—individuals or organizations that post messages to dedicated one-way feeds that any subscriber can...
Telegram has gained additional traction across the crypto industry over the last year thanks to the rise of The Open Network (TON), a blockchain network that Telegram originally created but then abandoned in 2020 due to regulatory issues. Development then continued externally via a community of independent developers.
TON now powers an array of popular crypto games on the platform, including Notcoin and Hamster Kombat, plus Telegram itself has increasingly embraced its use of TON over the past several months—including to pay channel operators a share of ad revenue, and to help power its Stars in-app currency.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
