I still find Telegram a bit of a pain. I know a lot of teenagers who use it because they think it’s really cool because of its reputation as a place where criminals hang out, and a place where you can get away with all sorts of things. That makes it “cooler” than WhatsApp or Signal. But from there, especially with some peer pressure at this age, it’s easy to join and participate in these groups.

The problem, of course, is that Telegram doesn’t cooperate. A good privacy-friendly service isn’t necessarily one that doesn’t cooperate with police investigations, but one that has little data to provide at all (and only does so with a valid court order). Of course, the unwillingness to moderate illegal content is also a problem, especially since it’s a known major problem with the service.

However, I understand the negative reactions and fear. While Telegram doesn’t have encryption in most chats anyway, and it’s implemented very strangely in the chats that do (you have to be online at the same time, for example), there are several things about encryption in the complaint. We must of course be careful that this isn’t abused by parties who want to block or weaken encryption.

However, at the same time, something must be done. Completely protecting a service like Telegram could also backfire. So it might be better to separate the bad apples from the bunch. But you do this not because Telegram has encryption (because that shouldn’t be a problem), but because Telegram facilitates illegal content and refuses to respond to police requests about it. And that should be the case everyone It is clear in the story. Moreover, the legislation is being deliberately circumvented, and could certainly be used against them if true.

And yes, Telegram will of course say that illegal content is not allowed. But by doing nothing about it, even refusing to comply with court orders, and if this news is true, deliberately circumventing the laws, they are doing their best to allow this to happen. It soon became the same with The PirateBay, which officially did not allow any illegal content at all.

[Reactie gewijzigd door Cambionn op 29 augustus 2024 14:02]