WhatsApp’s most direct competitor is none other than Telegram, the messaging app that has 900 million users. Nearly a billion users who now see the platform policy change after the arrest (and all the controversy) of its CEO: Pavel Durov.
Telegram will yield to governments that demand information, give them user data in some cases. So a chapter seems to be closing in the long history of the messaging app. That’s what’s changing.
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Telegram at the disposal of justice
It was Pavel Durov himself, CEO of the platform, who announced the Telegram’s usage and privacy policy will undergo radical change. Now it will provide user data to the authorities: IP addresses and phone numbers.
This is a pretty abrupt change, given Telegram’s secretive past, which has never caved in to government demands. You have to do this to avoid accusations of promoting illegal content and allow actions of dubious legality.
Last August, the arrest of Pavel Durov, triggered a series of consequences that continue to provide something to talk about. First, Telegram made it easier to report content within the app. Then it shut down its own news platform, Telegraph, losing a traditional feature.
Moderation is at the center. Now, it will implement new moderation measures to hide and remove problematic content from its search results. It will do this using both human raters and artificial intelligence bots.
The turmoil was necessary to change the habits of the messaging app, which in 2018 saw Russia try to block it so as not to transfer data to its government. It will now do so when necessary and is no longer an exception in a digital world that is opening up to all. regulationespecially in the case of communication platforms.
By | Xataka
Cover Image | Microsoft Designer (with editing)
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