Following the first public statement since his surprising arrest in France last month, Pavel Durov announced some major changes coming to Telegram. Today, the platform launched another one of its regular updates with new features and improvements, such as star giveaways, improvements for the in-app browser, new optimizations, and more. More importantly, Durov announced changes in its approach to moderation.
In a post on X, Durov says that the platform"s goal is now to "turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise." Telegram"s controversial approach to content moderation has caused quite a lot of trouble for the platform recently, with France arresting Durov and South Korea launching an investigation due to the widespread number of deepfake videos on Telegram.
While 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk.
That’s why this year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise.
Besides promising to change how content moderation on Telegram works, Durov announced that some features are now phasing out. The "People Nearby" feature is now replaced by "Businesses Nearby," which should help users find legitimate and verified businesses in their area. Also, Telegram turned off new media uploads to Telegraph (a standalone blogging platform) since it has been "misused by anonymous actors."
Finally, Durov announced that Telegram now has over 10 million subscribers who pay Telegram Premium. For those unaware, Telegram Premium offers additional premium features, such as an ad-free experience, Telegram Stories, larger file uploads, voice message transcription, animated emojis, Telegram Business, and more.
You can learn more about Telegram"s latest update in a blog post on the official website.