Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, in a lengthy post on the social media platform, has defended his company's stand to not ban the Palestine group Hamas.
He said, “Every day, Telegram's moderators and AI tools remove millions of obviously harmful content from our public platform. However, tackling war-related coverage is seldom obvious.”
Talking about Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, Mr Durov said, “Earlier this week, Hamas used Telegram to warn civilians in Ashkelon to leave the area ahead of their missile strikes. Would shutting down their channel help save lives — or would it endanger more lives?”
Defending the messaging platform's decision, he added, “It's always tempting to act on emotional impulses. But such complex situations require thorough consideration that should also take into account the differences between social platforms."
"Unlike other apps that algorithmically promote shocking content to unsuspecting people, on Telegram, users receive only the content to which they specifically subscribed. As such, it's unlikely that Telegram channels can be used to significantly amplify propaganda. Instead, they serve as a unique source of first-hand information for researchers, journalists, and fact-checkers.
“While it would be easy for us to destroy this source of information, doing so risks exacerbating an already dire situation,” he concluded.
Hamas launched 5,000 rockets in a surprise attack on Israel last week. So far, at least 2,215 Palestinians including 724 children have been killed in Gaza, Hamas officials said, as per a AFP report. Over 1,300 Israelis have been killed in the attack.
Meanwhile, a top grouping of Islamic nations has called an "urgent extraordinary meeting" in Saudi Arabia to discuss the Israel-Gaza war.
"At the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia... the Organisation's Executive Committee is convening an urgent open-ended extraordinary meeting at the ministerial level, to address the escalating military situation in Gaza and its environs as well as the deteriorating conditions that endanger the lives of civilians and the overall security and stability of the region," the OIC said in a statement on its website.Pavel Durov
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