Telegram’s Response to Piracy Has Improved Since CEO’s Arrest

In August, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France and later charged with complicity in crimes allegedly carried out on Telegram. The platform's failure to cooperate with French authorities appears to have been a significant aggravating factor. The multi-billionaire was eventually released on bail, offering assurances that Telegram would change for the better. Interestingly, reports from France suggest that broadcasters of live sports are already seeing improvements on the piracy front.

 When news broke in August that Telegram founder Pavel Durov had been arrested after his private plane touched down in France, speculation on the reasons behind that were in plentiful supply.

After letting the rumor mill boil for a few days, French authorities said they had charged Durov with criminal offenses related to his role at Telegram and the platform’s “near-total absence” of cooperation with French authorities. After initially being quite bullish, Durov appeared to adopt a more conciliatory tone, noting that staff had deployed AI tools in an effort to remove problematic content.

Telegram Promises to Comply With Valid Legal Requests

Another supposed change was an update of Telegram’s terms of service and privacy policy, to make it clear that in response to valid legal requests, Telegram will in future hand over alleged infringers’ personal details, including IP addresses and telephone numbers.

“We won’t let bad actors jeopardize the integrity of our platform of almost a billion users,” Durov said.

While Telegram has a reputation for failing to live up to rightsholders’ standards, the platform has blocked many piracy-related channels in recent years. On the user data front, in 2022 a court in India ordered Telegram to hand over information to identify alleged infringers. The company appeared to drag its feet, but there were clear indications that the platform eventually complied.

As previously reported, Telegram recently took action against Z-Library’s channels on copyright grounds, although who or what prompted that is still unclear. In any event, it appears that Telegram’s approach to moderation is changing, including reports from France that rightsholders have witnessed a shift too.

Takedown Speed Increases Considerably

Following Durov’s assurances that Telegram would start cooperating more with the authorities, reports began to emerge that some pirates, who presumably (and naively) considered Telegram a safe haven, are now feeling a little spooked.

Indeed, in an interview with Le Figaro, the CEO of anti-piracy company LeakID confirmed that for some football-focused streamers, the pressure was beginning to show.

“We have learned from concordant sources that at least three major streamers are stopping,” Hervé Lemaire told the publication, adding that Telegram also appears to be more responsive to takedown requests.

“We noticed that Telegram closed illicit streams more quickly, in 10, 15, 20 minutes, whereas this was not the case before,” Lemaire added. “Previously, Telegram generally took 24 to 48 hours to close these pirate links.”

Similar changes were also observed at beIN Sports, a company that sees most of its content pirated on a continuous basis, with Telegram-based pirates typically playing a role in illicit distribution.

“We have indeed seen a significant drop in streams of pirated content on Telegram in recent days,” confirmed Sarah d’Arifat, legal director at beIN Sports. “However, it is still too early to draw any conclusions, even if we hope that this improvement will be confirmed over time.”

“Mafia Groups” on Telegram

The Association for the Protection of Sports Programs (APPS) counts several major rightsholders and broadcasters among its members, including Canal+, beIN Sports, the Professional Football League (LFP) and the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).

In an August interview, APPS president Xavier Spender described IPTV providers and illegal streamers operating on Telegram as organized criminals, and Telegram as falling short on cooperation.

“What you have to keep in mind is that today the players on these platforms are real mafia groups. They make a significant profit from this activity of pirating content, whether it is sports content or other types,” Spender said. “Telegram is not very responsive when asked to cut off streams, that’s clear.”

So with the more recent changes, are rightsholders optimistic for the future?

Luke-Warm Reception From Other Rightsholders

“Telegram’s announcement of increased moderation and collaboration with the French justice system also appears to concern illegal sports broadcasts: blocking and announcements of the cessation of illegal broadcasts of sports content by streamers,” Spender confirmed to Le Figaro.

For the Professional Football League, which suffers high levels of piracy along with its football counterparts all over Europe, any positive change is welcomed. In Telegram’s case, however, much more will be needed to effectively tackle the unique problems associated with piracy of live sports, in particular the need for ultra-fast takedowns.

“Telegram’s initial efforts are interesting but not sufficient,” the LFP said. “The removal times observed on Telegram remain random and can still extend to several hours. These times are therefore unfortunately still not, overall, compatible with the effective protection of content broadcast live.”

Hervé Lemaire at Leak ID prefers to see how Telegram handles big events before drawing any firm conclusions. But of course, he’s seen it all before and understands the brutal reality of fighting piracy online, even if Telegram suddenly meets demanding industry standards.

“If it is no longer Telegram, the streamers will go to something else,” he said. “All platforms must play the game. Telegram is a step. But it is not the end of the war.”

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