Telegram’s algorithm is recommending extremist content to users browsing the platform for celebrity or technology-related content, according to a study by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a US-based civil rights organization.
It was first reported as part of a study titled ‘Telegram’s toxic recommendations’ BBCSPLC researchers analyzed more than 28,000 Telegram channels to find that extreme content would be recommended to users browsing mundane topics.
For example, users who have just signed up to Telegram can search for ‘Donald Trump’ and see several channels promoting the Q-Anon conspiracy in the platform’s “Similar Channels” section.
A similar search for the phrase ‘UK riots’ yielded an Adolf Hitler meme as the first result, according to the SPLC study, along with user recommendations to follow Telegram channels run by violent far-right groups.
In addition, the study found that Telegram users engaged with extreme content such as anti-government conspiracies were shown content related to other extremist ideologies such as anti-Semitism or white nationalism.
“Some of these groups are very active. You’re just getting memes on Telegram, you’re turning into real events. They’re showing people and doing events on the ground,” SPLC lead researcher Megan Squires was quoted as saying by the British broadcaster.
The messaging app has been criticized several times in the past for its Channels feature that lets users set up groups of over 2,00,000 people and broadcast content to them.
Ghost guns, scamming devices ‘for sale’ on Telegram
Users can reportedly find sellers of ammunition like Uzi submachine guns on Telegram in no time.
“Telegram is certainly the most important platform that criminals are using to commit crimes,” said David Maimon, a professor at Georgia State University in the US.
He is said to have performed BBC How a vendor posted a picture of an Uzi and said he could fast track a shipment of weapons to reach the user’s destination in the next two to three days.
How did Telegram respond?
Stressing that it removes millions of pieces of content on a daily basis, Telegram said users are “presented only with content they choose to engage with”.
“The ‘Channel Suggestions’ feature only shows channels with the same topic that a user already follows. This approach ensures that users are only presented with content they choose to engage with. This is completely different from the way other platforms suggest,” the company said.
“It does not amplify content, but instead shows topic-based suggestions related to user choices,” the platform added.
Earlier this year, Telegram CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov was arrested at an airport in France for allegedly failing to stop crime on the platform. He has denied the charges and is currently out on bail.
Amid scrutiny from French authorities, Telegram backed away from its hard-line stance of not cooperating with law enforcement agencies and said it would begin sharing user data such as IP addresses and phone numbers in response to valid search warrants or legal requests from authorities. .
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