For subscribers
Telegram’s hands-off approach to content faces a reckoning
The popular social media platform’s policy choices have allowed abuse to proliferate.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Telegram has an estimated 900 million monthly users, many of whom follow popular channels that broadcast content to thousands of people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Parmy Olson
Follow topic:
The recent arrest of Telegram founder and chief executive officer Pavel Durov at Le Bourget airport near Paris has sent shockwaves through the tech world.
Mr Elon Musk called on France to “free Pavel” to avert a threat to democracy; Mr Paul Graham, the co-founder of leading Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator, suggested it would hurt the country’s chances of being “a major start-up hub”. Yet while some are citing a French-led assault on free speech and innovation, the reality is more nuanced.
