Telegram has launched the world’s first ‘mass surveillance’ program using AI to spy on its users and report ‘harmful’ content to government authorities.

Following Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest in France earlier this year, the messaging platform has taken a sudden U-turn from ‘protecting privacy’ to ‘censoring users’.

Techcrunch.com reports: After announcing a crackdown in September, Telegram now says it has removed 15.4 million groups and channels related to harmful content like fraud and terrorism in 2024, noting this effort was “enhanced with cutting-edge AI moderation tools.”

The announcement is part of a newly launched moderation page Telegram has created to better communicate its moderation efforts to the public, according to a post from Durov’s Telegram channel. According to Telegram’s moderation page, there’s a noticeable increase in enforcement after Durov’s arrest in August:

Durov’s French case is still pending, but he is currently out on €5 million bail.