Theresa May will single out messaging app Telegram and call it a 'home to criminals and terrorists'

Theresa May

Prime Minister Theresa May will launch an attack on technology companies in a speech to the world's financial, business, and political leaders at the World Economic Forum on Thursday.
May will single out messaging app Telegram as a "home to criminals and terrorists."
Telegram has had a problem with ISIS members using the app to communicate.

Prime Minister Theresa May will say in her speech at the World Economic Forum on Thursday that messaging app Telegram is a "home to criminals and terrorists."

May's speech in Davos in Switzerland focuses on the need for technology companies to do more to prevent abuse of their platforms. She will single out Telegram specifically as an example of a company that hasn't co-operated enough with governments.

"Just as these big companies need to step up," May will say, "so we also need cross-industry responses because smaller platforms can quickly become home to criminals and terrorists."

"We have seen that happen with Telegram. And we need to see more co-operation from smaller platforms like this. No-one wants to be known as 'the terrorists' platform' or the first-choice app for paedophiles."

May seems to be referencing previous reports which showed that ISIS members often use Telegram to communicate. The Huffington Post has called the app "the app of choice for ISIS."

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has spoken about ISIS' use of his app in the past. He said at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in 2015 that "privacy, ultimately, and the right for privacy is more important than our fear of bad things happening, like terrorism."

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov "If you look at ISIS — yes, there's a war going on in the Middle East. It's a series of tragic events. But ultimately, ISIS will always find a way to communicate within themselves. And if any means of communication turns out to be not secure for them, they'll just switch to another one.

"So I don't think we are actually taking part in these activities. I don't think we should be guilty or feel guilty about it. I still think we're doing the right thing, protecting our users' privacy."

And May's comment on "the first choice app for paedophiles" seems to be referencing previous stories accusing Telegram of hosting paedophile accounts on its app.

Indian media reported in December on a private Telegram channel was used to host child pornography. And the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission set up a committee in 2016 to investigate local paedophiles' use of Telegram.

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