Mobile message service used by Isis as recruitment and propaganda platform has so far deleted 78 channels in wake of Paris attacks

The encrypted, privacy-focused messaging app Telegram is taking action to block its use by Islamic State, after it was discovered the group was using the app’s public channels to spread propaganda.

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The feature was launched two months ago, allowing anyone with a Telegram account to broadcast messages publicly. It became the preferred method for Isis to broadcast news and videos of military victories or sermons, according to security researchers.

The activity was flagged to Telegram by users through its abuse reporting feature, which allowed the company to act. In a statement published on its site on Wednesday, Telegram said it has been able to identify and block 78 Isis-related broadcast channels in 12 languages on its site.

“We were disturbed to learn that Telegram’s public channels were being used by Isis to spread their propaganda,” it said.

Telegram Messenger (@telegram) This week we blocked 78 ISIS-related channels across 12 languages. More info on our official channel: https://t.co/69Yhn2MCrK

Alex Kassirer, a counter-terrorism analyst with the New York-based private intelligence firm Flashpoint, said Isis had begun using Telegram broadcast channels to send press releases aimed at recruiting and inspiring followers.



Isis used Telegram to claim responsibility for the Paris attacks, which left 129 people dead, and the bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt last month, which killed 224.

Some of the dozens of Isis channels had 10,000 followers or more, said Rita Katz, director of the extremist-monitoring service SITE Intelligence Group, based in Bethesda, Maryland.

By Wednesday afternoon some of those channels could not be accessed, and a message was displayed saying they were no longer available.

Secure messaging

Created two years ago by the exiled founders of Russia’s most popular social network site, Berlin-based Telegram has gained traction as an ultra-secure way to quickly upload and share videos, texts and voice messages.

It uses end-to-end encryption for private messaging between phones, tablets and computers, meaning only the sender and the receiver of the message are able to read it, preventing snooping or interception by third-parties, including security forces. The public messaging feature, which Isis was using is freely viewable by anyone following the channels.

Telegram says it has 60 million active users, which is a relatively small number compared to similar messaging services, including those such as Facebook’s WhatsApp, which also uses end-to-end encryption and has over 900 million users.

Unlike Twitter, which has shut down thousands of accounts tied to Islamic State for violating company rules, Telegram had appeared to let the jihadists operate without fear of being turned off or traced, Katz said.

Telegram explicitly says on its site that it makes efforts to block Isis from its public channels. The company stressed that shutting down Isis channels on the site was not taken to restrict free speech, which it encourages.

“While we do block terrorist (eg Isis-related) bots and channels, we will not block anybody who peacefully expresses alternative opinions,” Telegram said of its actions.

The company is attempting to tread a fine line between protecting user privacy and political pressure over the Paris attacks.

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov said to technology site TechCrunch: “Since channels represent a completely different means of communication, they require a completely different approach. As for private chats, they were and remain sacred to us. There will be no shift in attitude there.”

Telegram was set up by the two brothers who founded VKontakte, a Russian social networking site inspired by Facebook that counts more than 60 million active users.

Pavel Durov, 31, the frontman, and his brother Nicolay, 34, the technical talent, lost control of VKontakte to businessmen with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014, after battling the government over demands that it block Russian opposition leaders and turn over information about Ukrainian protesters.

The brothers left Russia and moved to Berlin to continue running Telegram, which they fund themselves. The main appeal of Telegram is that it allows users to send strongly encrypted messages, for free, to any number of a user’s phones, tablets or computers.