ISRAEL AT WAR
Telegram CEO insists he will not take down Hamas horrors
Pavel Durov even went as far as making the ridiculous claim that Hamas should be allowed to continue to post on Telegram as it uses the platform to warn Israelis ahead of attacks
The CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, insists that his messaging app has no intention of taking down Hamas horrors. While other social platforms like X, Meta, and TikTok have been working to take down incendiary and graphic content posted by Hamas and its supporters (not always successfully), Telegram has taken an opposite approach. Durov even went as far as making the ridiculous claim that Hamas should be allowed to continue to post on Telegram as it uses the platform to warn Israelis ahead of attacks.
“Every day, Telegram's moderators and AI tools remove millions of obviously harmful content from our public platform. However, tackling war-related coverage is seldom obvious,” wrote Durov. “Earlier this week, Hamas used Telegram to warn civilians in Ashkelon to leave the area ahead of their missile strikes. Would shutting down their channel help save lives — or would it endanger more lives?
“It’s always tempting to act on emotional impulses. But such complex situations require thorough consideration that should also take into account the differences between social platforms.”
Durov also made an absurd claim that in Telegram users only receive content to which they subscribed, ignoring the fact that content spreads quickly when users share throughout different groups.
“Unlike other apps that algorithmically promote shocking content to unsuspecting people, on Telegram, users receive only the content to which they specifically subscribed. As such, it's unlikely that Telegram channels can be used to significantly amplify propaganda. Instead, they serve as a unique source of first-hand information for researchers, journalists, and fact-checkers.
“While it would be easy for us to destroy this source of information, doing so risks exacerbating an already dire situation.”
Related articles:
Needless to say, Telegram has been profiting from the situation and its approach, with Durov admitting last week that the platform has onboarded “hundreds of thousands” of news users in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
