Two days before Joe Biden's inauguration, Telegram reports that it has taken down hundreds of messages promoting violence. The decision is a measure against the current climate of political insurrection in the American government.

The resolution was released on the channel of one of the platform's founders, Pavel Durov. In a public statement, he justifies the action by reminding that Telegram Terms of Service do not contain messages of violence.

This is not the first time that Telegram has acted in this way. The note claims that the platform has been applying this policy for seven years. Durov says that similar interventions have taken place in Belarus, Iran, Hong Kong and Thailand. The current situation in American politics has put greater pressure on messaging platforms – especially after the attack on the Capitol.

However, the filtering only applies to public channels on the platform. This does not mean that violent messages on Telegram are not sent privately.

In conclusion, the founder clarifies that political debate is welcome on the platform from all sides of the political spectrum, “but we will act quickly to curb those who incite people to harm others.”

Acting openly

According to item 5.2 of the Privacy Terms, Telegram has at least 500 million users. Although the American audience accounts for only a fraction of that (less than 2%, according to Durov), the platform is still a breeding ground for viral and fake news.

Since January, Telegram's moderation department has received a large number of reports of inciting messages. Since Biden's inauguration was blocked, social media has been under increasing pressure to curb this violent scenario. And now that the Russian platform is winning over former WhatsApp users, politics becomes even more important.

Other platforms, besides Telegram, have also taken drastic measures against messages of violence, whether verbal or combined. Before the US election, Facebook was forced to drop accounts with false content and, with the Democrat's inauguration approaching, also registered increase in violent rhetoric. YouTube banned Donald Trump's account until Biden's inauguration – and Twitter, to always.

Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. Engadget e The Verge

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