ISIS used Telegram to claim responsibility for Paris attacks.
By Raghavendra M
Popular messaging service Telegram has announced that it has blocked access to 78 ‘Channels’ on its network that are being used by ISIS to promote its propaganda. The terrorist organization had used Telegram to claim responsibility for attacks on Paris.
Telegram, a multi-platform instant messaging application, allows creating public channels to broadcast messages and ISIS was found to be using the feature for spreading its propaganda.
This week we blocked 78 ISIS-related channels across 12 languages. More info on our official channel: https://t.co/69Yhn2MCrK
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) November 18, 2015
On its official channel, Telegram said:
“We were disturbed to learn that Telegram’s public channels were being used by ISIS to spread their propaganda.
We are carefully reviewing all reports sent to us at abuse@telegram.org and are taking appropriate action to block such channels.
As a result, this week alone we blocked 78 ISIS-related channels across 12 languages.
We are also introducing an easier way for our users to report objectionable public content in the upcoming update of Telegram this week”.
While one-to-one and group chats are private, ticker sets, bots and channels are publicly available and can be blocked for abuse, said Telegram.
“All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them. But sticker sets, channels, and bots on Telegram are publicly available. If you find sticker sets or bots on Telegram that you think are illegal, please ping us at abuse@telegram.org.”
It said that Telegram can take down sticker sets that violate intellectual property rights or porn bots in countries where pornography is illegal.
Telegram is not the only one to act against ISIS propaganda. Earlier this week, Hacktivist collective ‘Anonymous’ declared a total war against the Islamist terrorist group and requested hackers across the world to help them in curtailing its online propaganda. ‘Anonymous’ also published a list of more than 100 sites linked to the terrorist group.