Friday, February 7, 2025

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Telegram CEO: “Criminals are abusing our platform”

Internet censorship

Published 7 September 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Critics fear that Durov has been pressured to introduce more censorship and surveillance.

Telegram’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, now regrets that criminals are exploiting his platform and promises to do what he can to make Telegram a “safer” place – a process that has reportedly already begun internally.

Meanwhile, Telegram has quietly updated its FAQ, replacing promises that chats are private and that data from them will not be shared with outsiders with instructions on how users can report “suspicious” messages.

In late August, Mr. Durov was arrested by French police but released after four days if he promised not to leave the country while the investigation against him was ongoing.

The reason for Durov’s arrest was that he was not considered to be doing enough to censor, monitor and otherwise prevent criminals from using Telegram for criminal activities – and that, as CEO, he was allegedly personally responsible for crimes committed on Telegram, which is why he reportedly faced a multi-year prison sentence.

Now, critics say that the pressure from the French police has paid off, and Durov has been pressured to introduce more censorship and surveillance on the messaging platform. Telegram has quietly updated its FAQ to include the sentence “All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them” seems to have disappeared or been hidden.

Instead, users are now greeted with the text “All Telegram apps have ‘Report’ buttons” that will give a way for users to flag illegal content for the app’s moderators”, followed by instructions on how users should go about reporting posts they want reviewed.

“Always open to dialogue”

That more censorship and surveillance may be in store for Telegram also seems to be confirmed by a statement from Durov himself yesterday.

“Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. I was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram”, he begins, saying that he was “surprised” to learn about this.

Durov stresses that official representatives already respond to requests from the EU and other authorities, and that there have been various opportunities for disgruntled countries to initiate legal proceedings against Telegram if they were “unhappy” with the way the platform was being run.

“We’ve been committed to engaging with regulators to find the right balance. Yes, we stand by our principles: our experience is shaped by our mission to protect our users in authoritarian regimes. But we’ve always been open to dialogue”, he continues, explaining that they have left countries where they have not been able to work with authorities to find “the right balance between privacy and security”.

“When Russia demanded we hand over “encryption keys” to enable surveillance, we refused — and Telegram got banned in Russia. When Iran demanded we block channels of peaceful protesters, we refused — and Telegram got banned in Iran. We are prepared to leave markets that aren’t compatible with our principles, because we are not doing this for money. We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated”, Durov added.

“Already started the process”

At the same time, he says that we “we hear voices saying that it’s not enough”, and that it has become easier for criminals to abuse the platform as it has grown very quickly.

“That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We’ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon. I hope that the events of August will result in making Telegram — and the social networking industry as a whole — safer and stronger”.

Exactly how or what will be “improved” is not clear, but many interpret the move as Durov being pressured or persuaded to introduce more censorship and surveillance on Telegram – and speculate that this is either to avoid the app being shut down and banned in France and other EU countries, or because Durov does not want to risk being imprisoned, paying large damages, or otherwise being personally punished for messages written on the platform.

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US tech giants cave to EU censorship demands

Internet censorship

Published 29 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Most major tech giants have chosen to adopt the EU Code of Conduct - which is supposedly voluntary.

US tech companies Facebook, X and YouTube have agreed to step up their efforts to combat alleged online hate.

The agreement comes under the updated EU Code of Conduct, which is now integrated into the Union’s regulatory framework, the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Meta, Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), Google’s YouTube and several other tech companies have agreed to strengthen their efforts against so-called hate content on their platforms. This includes enhanced efforts to detect and address unauthorized online speech and posts under the updated EU Code of Conduct.

– In Europe there is no place for illegal hate, either offline or online. I welcome the stakeholders’ commitment to a strengthened Code of conduct under the Digital Services Act (DSA), commented EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen.

The revised code, which is said to be voluntary for companies to sign up to, requires, among other things, faster handling of reports of suspected “cyber hate”. Companies commit to working with non-profit organizations and public bodies to review at least two-thirds of incoming reports within 24 hours. In addition, automated tools will be used to reduce the spread of so-called hate content, and companies will also provide detailed information on the role of algorithms and content recommendations.

In addition to the major platforms, other affiliates include TikTok, LinkedIn and Twitch. The EU stresses that compliance with this code of conduct could influence how Union regulators apply the rules of the DSA, which entered into force in 2022 and aims, among other things, to combat illegal content and protect users’ safety online.

Threatened annulment of elections

The EU’s new measures are part of its broader strategy to regulate the tech sector and ensure that companies act in line with what the EU itself claims are “democratic values”. In the past, the EU has also introduced the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to limit the dominance of tech giants and promote competition.

Another example of the EU’s regulatory zeal is recently reported statements by Thierry Breton, former European Commissioner, that the Union can use the DSA to annul elections if there is suspicion of foreign influence. Breton mentioned, among others, Elon Musk’s platform X as a potential risk of influence during the upcoming German elections.

In addition, Google has been criticized for its introduction of “digital fingerprinting”, a technology that critics say undermines users’ privacy. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has expressed concerns about the technology and warned that it could be used for widespread surveillance.

Although the EU claims that the aim of the DSA and the updated code of conduct is to combat hate speech and protect democracy, critics have warned that the Union’s rules could severely restrict citizens’ freedom of expression.

By imposing strict requirements on platforms to monitor and filter content, there is a risk of creating a digital landscape where controversial views are censored and the climate of debate is negatively affected.

Zuckerberg: Biden administration forced us to censor vaccine criticism

Internet censorship

Published 11 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Mark Zuckerberg says it was Biden's team that forced Facebook to censor vaccine criticism.

In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it was the Biden administration that forced the company’s platforms to censor posts criticizing the experimental COVID-19 vaccines.

The conversation covered several topics, but one that stood out was when Zuckerberg talked about government censorship and how the outgoing administration forced the tech company to weed out uncomfortable opinions – even if they were completely true.

– This hit the most extreme. I’d say it was during the Biden Administration when they were trying to roll out the vaccine programme. Now I’m generally pretty pro rolling out vaccines, I think on balance the vaccines are more positive than negative but I think that while they’re trying to push that program they also tried to censor anyone who was arguing against it.

– They pushed us super hard to take down things that were honestly true. I mean, they basically pushed us and said, ‘You know anything that says that vaccines might have side effects, you need to take down’ , the billionaire explained in the interview, claiming he opposed this demand.

According to Zuckerberg, representatives of the Biden administration contacted him personally and demanded that posts highlighting the side effects of the mRNA vaccine be deleted.

That’s ridiculous

Referring to the investigation, and the committee set up to look into the Biden administration’s censorship, Mark Zuckerberg went on to say that government representatives called and yelled at Meta’s team, demanding that various posts, even of a humorous nature, be deleted immediately.

– It just got to this point where we were like, no, we’re not gonna take down true things. That’s ridiculous… We’re not going to take down humor and satire.

According to Zuckerberg, his alleged refusal to comply with the Biden administration’s censorship demands also led the government to begin attacking his company through various pronouncements and government investigations.

– It was brutal, he claims.

With the departure of the Biden administration and the arrival of the Trump administration, the Facebook founder says it is high time to “restore freedom of expression” on platforms that were previously subject to widespread and arbitrary censorship, and where dissent was often effectively banned.

– We will go back to our roots, they say.

“Criminal censorship”

Not everyone finds Zuckerberg’s claims particularly credible, however. For example, author David Icke, an early critic of mass vaccination programs, points out that he was censored and suspended from Facebook back in 2020 when Donald Trump was president.

They are all at it – letting Zuckerberg’s criminal censorship be whitewashed to bring him into the MAGA fold while Biden takes the blame”, he writes.

Facebook stops fact-checking: “Too much censorship”

Internet censorship

Published 8 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Mark Zuckerberg himself has been a driving force in censoring dissidents and other dissenters on Meta's platforms.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta, announces that it will stop fact-checking posts on both platforms and move to a user-driven system.

Zuckerberg also blames politicians and the media for forcing such widespread censorship, saying it is now time to “restore freedom of expression“.

– We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms. More specifically, here’s what we’re going to do. First, we’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the US, the billionaire states in a video clip.

He also admits that Trump’s election win played a big role in the decision, while criticizing “governments and legacy media” for pressuring the company to “censor more and more”.

– The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech.

The Facebook CEO also acknowledges that the sophisticated systems created to moderate the platforms do not work well and lead to an unreasonable censorship of content that does not violate any rules at all.

– The problem with complex systems is they make mistakes. Even if they accidentally censor just 1% of posts, that’s millions of people, and we’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship.

“A trade-off”

Some content guidelines will also be removed, for example on immigration and LGBT issues. This is interpreted as meaning that in future it will be possible to discuss these topics more freely and to hold dissenting views without risking being suspended or censored as easily as before.

The content filter will also be modified, it says, and set so that posts are not deleted as easily and arbitrarily as before.

– The reality is that this is a trade-off. It means we’re going to catch less bad stuff, but we’ll also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts that we accidentally take down, Zuckerberg continues.

In recent years, censorship on Facebook has been extremely widespread and it has often been difficult to discuss political or other topics without risking censorship. According to analysts, the reason for Meta’s reversal is that Mark Zuckerberg wants to improve relations with President-elect Donald Trump and his administration.

Trump himself has been banned from both Facebook and Instagram for years but was welcomed back this summer when it became clear that he would again be the Republican presidential candidate.

Russian media blocked on Telegram in Sweden

Internet censorship

Published 30 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
It is unclear whether the media channels have been blocked in all EU countries.

The messaging service Telegram has previously been presented as a more privacy- and free speech-friendly alternative to the services provided by major American tech companies.

However, censorship has now started to increase there as well, and several Russian media outlets have recently been blocked in Sweden and several other EU countries.

These include the state news agency Ria, the TV channels Rossiya 1, Pervyj Kanal and NTV, and the newspapers Izvestiya and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Users in Sweden who try to access the media’s Telegram channels are prevented from doing so and are instead met with an error message stating that the channels cannot be shown because they violate local legislation.

It is unclear whether the Russian media are blocked on Telegram across the European Union but it is clear that they cannot be accessed in Poland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy and the Czech Republic either.

“An informational iron curtain”

It should also be noted that several of the media outlets now blocked by Telegram have previously been banned, blocked or sanctioned by EU powers for allegedly being under the “permanent direct or indirect control” of the Kremlin and playing a “essential and instrumental” role in the war in Ukraine.

Senator Alexei Pushkov, who heads the Russian media policy committee in the Federation Council, is highly critical of the censorship, drawing parallels with the Cold War.

– I believe that the blocking of the RIA Novosti Telegram channel and other Russian mass media, including Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta in a number of EU countries, is a continuation of the effort to create an informational iron curtain between Europe and Russia, he says, according to Russian state channel RT.

CEO arrested in France

RT also had all its Telegram accounts blocked across the EU shortly after the Ukraine war started in 2022.

This summer, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was also arrested and detained by French police, accused of not doing enough to prevent criminals from using his platform and told that he risks being held personally liable for the crimes others commit on Telegram.

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov. Photo: facsimile/Tucker Carlson/YT

Shortly thereafter, Durov also promised that Telegram would become a “safer place,” while the service quietly updated its FAQ. Promises that chats were private and that data would not be shared with outsiders were replaced with instructions on how users can report “suspicious” messages.

Critics were quick to point out that it is not only criminal actors who risk being removed from the platform but also accounts belonging to political dissenters or other voices that Western leaders may want to silence.