The Telegram messaging app has become a popular method of communication for ISIS supporters, with it also having been used as a tool for the group to spread propaganda. This is a result of it boasting greater encryption than the likes of rivals WhatsApp, which has proved to be a major boon for ISIS as it allows them to avoid detection. Up until now, Telegram has been hesitant to react to the group’s increasing use of their app, though they have now implemented a new measure that could limit the Islamic State’s reach.
The mobile Telegram app now features a “report” button in its latest update, allowing users to manually flag accounts that they believe breach the app’s terms of service. Pressing this button allows users to report an account for spam, violence, pornography, or other, which would effectively grant Telegram’s users the ability to police the kind of content that is being distributed using the app.
This follows Telegram’s shutting down of 78 ISIS channels last week following the terrorist attacks in Paris, and represents a stronger push from the company in regards to effectively dealing with its app being used to potentially organize further terrorist acts. Though ISIS are still reportedly taking advantage of holes in the app in which they can continue to communicate by using the app’s invite links, which require recipients to click on the them in order to gain access to a channel.
Telegram also rolled out a number of less crucial features in the update, including bumping the maximum number of members allowed in a group from 200 to 1,000, and granting the ability to make certain members of these groups admins, which would grant them the capability to add or remove others from the group along with change its name and photo.
