![]() Červenka says that new laws are needed to force tech companies to better protect their users and clampdown on the use of abusive automation technology. “Telegram should look inward and hold itself accountable,” says Honza Červenka, a solicitor at law firm McAllister Olivarius, which specialises in non-consensual images and technology. One group focussed on sharing images of women that were taken in public places without their knowledge. Some groups they found had more than 30,000 members and required members to share non-consensual images or be removed from the group. ![]() Separate research from academics of at the University of Milan and the University of Turin has also found networks of Italian-language Telegram groups, some of which were private and could only be accessed by invitation, sharing non-consensual intimate images of women that don’t involve deepfake technology. He says there are a number of Italian-language bots that appear to offer the same functionalities as the one Sensity previously found, however they do not appear to be working. Since Italian officials opened their investigation, Patrini has conducted more research looking for deepfake bots on Telegram. In a statement, the regulator said the nude images generated by the bot could cause “irreparable damage” to their victims. On October 23, Italy’s data protection body, the Garante per la Protezione dei dati Personali, opened an investigation into Telegram and has asked it to provide data. Apple also temporarily removed it from its App Store in 2018 after finding inappropriate content on the platform. In July 2017, Telegram said it would create a team of moderators to remove terrorism-related content after Indonesia threatened it with a ban. However, the messaging app has run into trouble with problematic content. ![]() Since it was founded in 2013, Telegram has positioned itself as a private space for free speech and its end-to-end encrypted mode has been used by journalists and activists around the world to protect privacy and evade censorship. The company, which is believed to be based in Dubai but has servers all around the world, has never publicly commented about the harm caused by the Telegram bot or its continued position to allow it to operate. Neither Telegram’s spokesperson or the service’s founder, Pavel Durov, responded to requests for comment. However, WIRED was unable to confirm this or any action taken by Telegram. In one Telegram group chat about the bot, its owner says that Telegram has blocked mentions of its name. The bot is still available on Android devices and Telegram's Mac application. These rules say apps that contain text, photos or videos uploaded by people who download them must also include a way to filter “objectionable” material from being posted. Apple says that it is unable to block content or display any messaging in apps it doesn’t own, but that it does notify developers if it finds any content that goes against the App Store’s rules. That message within Telegram has since been replaced with a generic warning that says the bot cannot be displayed.Īpple did not respond to questions about Telegram or whether it told the company to put restrictions in place. ![]() Apple’s rules say “overtly sexual or pornographic material” is not allowed in apps accessible through the App Store. The creator, whose identity is unknown, did not respond to a request for comment.Īt the end of October, the Telegram bot became inaccessible on iPhone and iPads and showed a message saying it “violates” section 1.1 of Apple’s developer guidelines. “Since we went public the bot is still operational and still is today.” In one instance the bot’s creator said the bot will keep operating under the radar. “The bot has never been taken down by anybody,” Patrini says. And some of the channels have vanished completely.Īlthough the groups around the bot are not currently posting about it, the bot still exists and continues to work. Many of the channels now share other content related to deepfake technology in general and a public gallery of ‘nude’ images created by the bot was wiped by its owner. “The groups that were advertising the bots on Telegram have essentially gone silent.”Ī number of groups that used the bot have changed their names so they can avoid being identified. “It is actually harder now to actually get to the bot,” Giorgio Patrini, CEO and chief scientist at Sensity says. Since Sensity revealed the bot’s existence in October, the groups that used it to share images have hidden it.
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