Telegram Blocks Hamas Channels on Android Under Google Pressure
The Telegram messenger has blocked several channels used by Hamas. This restriction only applies to the Android platform, as their operation violates Google Play Store's app policies, reports The Verge.
When attempting to access the blocked channels, users encounter an error message stating that "the channel cannot be viewed in Telegram apps downloaded from the Google Play Store." In a comment to The Verge, an anonymous Google representative confirmed that this is indeed a company policy requirement aimed at preventing the dissemination of "violent content related to terrorism" in apps. It is currently unknown whether Telegram will ban Hamas channels on other platforms.
Telegram typically opposes the removal of channels. In a post from October 13, CEO Pavel Durov mentioned his deliberation on closing Hamas channels and noted that the organization used the platform a few days before attacks to alert civilians to evacuate. Meanwhile, Hamas uses Telegram to share videos of its attacks, and one of the blocked channels is utilized by the organization's military wing.
Previously, Meta and X (Twitter) declared taking measures to block accounts associated with Hamas to limit the spread of disinformation on their platforms. A former head of Meta's moderation department stated that Hamas's approach to Telegram "actually follows a model we've seen with ISIS."
With the enactment of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), governments have gained authority to regulate content moderation on social media. This has already had implications for Meta and X (Twitter), as they received letters from the EU demanding increased vigilance in combatting disinformation during times of conflict.
Telegram does not fall into the category of "major online platforms" under this law, although there have been reports of pressure on the platform within the EU. In February 2022, Telegram closed over 60 channels in Germany that were spreading COVID disinformation, and also blocked certain Russian state media outlets following the invasion of Ukraine.
In other news, pro-Russian sympathizers and former head of the "representative office" of temporarily occupied territories in the Donetsk region, Nela Liskova, will face charges of using hostile language towards Ukrainians and Ukraine. On X (Twitter), she notably wrote that her "task will be de-Ukrainization and denazification of the Czech Republic."