Telegram Tightens Its Privacy Policy And Considers Leaving Certain Countries.

After the arrest of its CEO Pavel Durov in France, Telegram is making a major strategic shift regarding its privacy policy and international presence.

Stronger moderation of private content

The instant messaging platform has quietly modified its FAQ, removing the mention that it did not handle any requests regarding private chats. Now, Telegram explicitly encourages its users to report any illegal content, including in private conversations.

“All Telegram apps have ‘Report’ buttons to report illegal content to our moderators with just a few clicks,” states the new version of the FAQ. This change marks a turning point for an application that has long championed absolute privacy.

This change comes in a tense context for Telegram. The French authorities recently arrested Pavel Durov, the founder of the application, accusing him of not cooperating enough in the fight against criminal activities on the platform. Faced with this pressure, Telegram now seems ready to make concessions on protecting its users’ privacy.

Telegram, a possible withdrawal from certain markets

Beyond this revision of its moderation policy, Telegram is also considering withdrawing from certain countries deemed incompatible with its values. In a message posted on his official channel, Pavel Durov stated: “When we cannot find a fair balance between privacy and security with a regulator, we are ready to leave that country.”

The CEO recalled the precedents of Russia and Iran, where Telegram preferred to be banned rather than cede to government demands. This stance, although indicative of a certain ethical intransigence, could nevertheless weaken the growth of the application, which now claims 950 million users.

These announcements raise many questions about the future of Telegram. Will the application be able to preserve its libertarian DNA while meeting the legitimate demands of authorities? Can its still fragile economic model, despite rising revenues, withstand a possible withdrawal from important markets? The evolution of the Telegram case in the coming months will be closely watched by sector observers.