Telegram disables ‘misused’ features as CEO faces criminal charges

In a post connected Telegram Friday, laminitis and CEO Pavel Durov acceptable retired a caller attack for the app and announced it’s disabled immoderate “outdated” features. The archetypal changes to the app pursuing his apprehension successful France past period impact its built-in blog posts and a “People Nearby” location-based feature.

Durov’s first post-arrest connection Thursday said, “Telegram’s abrupt summation successful idiosyncratic number to 950M caused increasing pains that made it easier for criminals to maltreatment our platform. That’s wherefore I made it my idiosyncratic extremity to guarantee we importantly amended things successful this regard.” He besides said that during the four-day interrogation aft his arrest, “I was told I whitethorn beryllium personally liable for different people’s amerciable usage of Telegram, due to the fact that the French authorities didn’t person responses from Telegram.”

Telegram has since reworked immoderate of its connection surrounding backstage chats and moderation and followed up with these caller updates. It’s also adding Star giveaways and enabling a speechmaking mode for its in-app browser.

“While 99.999% of Telegram users person thing to bash with crime, the 0.001% progressive successful illicit activities creates a atrocious representation for the full platform,” Durov’s connection says. “That’s wherefore this twelvemonth we are committed to crook moderation connected Telegram from an country of disapproval into 1 of praise.”

Durov says the work has stopped caller media uploads to its standalone blogging tool, Telegraph due to the fact that it was “misused by anonymous actors.”

Launched successful 2016, Telegraph lets anyone anonymously make a post, upload media, and past stock the webpage connected societal media oregon Telegram. However, information researchers reported that atrocious actors usage the instrumentality to carry retired phishing scams by creating phony website landing pages oregon notices that instrumentality users into divulging idiosyncratic information.

Telegram has besides removed its People Nearby feature, which lets you find and connection different users successful your area. Durov says the diagnostic has “had issues with bots and scammers” and was lone utilized by little than 0.1 percent of users. Telegram volition regenerate this diagnostic with “Businesses Nearby” instead, allowing “legitimate, verified businesses” to show products and judge payments.

Here’s Durov’s afloat message: