Telegram (software)

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Telegram is an instant messaging, social media and Voice-Over-IP service provider based in Dubai. Like almost any tool it can be used to promote the forces of both light or darkness.

Refuge for cranks, black markets and scammers

See the main article on this topic: Crank

Telegram offers users the possibility to create channels, a place where a user can post content and an unlimited number of people can subscribe to (not unlike something like a user's Twitter/Fediverse feed). Traditionally, Telegram had a hands-off approach to moderating these channels, which those posting anti-vaccine content, conspiracy theories, and more general groups like the alt-right very much liked. Those who found themselves kicked from more mainstream platforms found in Telegram's channels feature a new home, like Nick Fuentes. Many black market sellers are active on Telegram in private channels where one can purchase drugs, illicit firearms and stolen credit card information with cryptocurrency or cash. It's also beloved by scammers for its "private-by-default" nature.^{[citation needed]}

…Or not?

Especially following the January 6 Capitol attack in the US, the company has started to take a more active role in moderating explicitly far-right and pro-violence channels. Many channels related to the Capitol attack were deleted, such as one mentioned in the article as posting "Army manuals with bomb-making and munitions-making information" at the beginning of the attack. The aforementioned article draws parallels between these bans and the ones that occurred following the 2015 Paris massacre, in which Telegram deleted openly pro-ISIS channels. Of course, by the time these bans happened, it was already too late. The channel deletion seems to be limited, however. Telegram seems to prefer to mark channels about, for example, QAnon with a "Fake" tag in the channel title, despite QAnon being explicitly pro-violence.

The service is also an extremely popular platform within the furry fandom due its "custom stickers" feature, so you can naturally expect at least one furry near your location to have enabled the "Shared location" feature.

E2E encryption

Telegram provides optional end-to-end encrypted messaging, a feature that the company calls "Secret Chat". When properly set up, this makes the content of the messages between two contacts known only to the participants. As with any commercial security solution, this technology may not provide guaranteed security.

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