Telegram appears to limit Hamas accounts

Sept. 29 (UPI) — Telegram has apparently further limited access to accounts affiliated with the Palestinian militia Hamas.

Accounts for Hamas in Arabic and English, and an account for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, all previously accessed by UPI for news reporting purposes, appear to have been restricted in recent weeks. It was not clear when the change went into effect.

“This channel can’t be displayed because it violated local laws,” a message reads when attempting to access each channel from the United States, even when using a virtual private network proxy to attempt to bypass the restriction.

In recent years, Telegram has seemingly tried to appease concerns from Apple and Google by restricting channels on app-store-downloaded software — but has not restricted the same channels when the app has been downloaded directly from Telegram’s website.

However, Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov was arrested in France last month on a warrant tied to the app’s alleged lack of moderation in violation of the country’s laws.

Since then, Durov said Telegram agreed to turn over the internet protocol addresses and phone numbers for users facing search warrants or other legal actions against them.

Other changes being made by Telegram include tasking moderators and artificial intelligence to help find and remove “problem content” from public search features.

“Search on Telegram is more powerful than in other messaging apps because it allows users to find public channels and bots,” Durov said. “Unfortunately, this feature has been abused by people who violated our Terms of Service to sell illegal goods.”

He did not appear to discuss any geopolitical conflicts in his reasoning, focusing his message on criminal groups.

But with the restrictions on Hamas accounts, authorities in the West allied to Israel have functionally snipped off public access to information and statements from the Hamas militia allowing Israel increased control over messaging around its war effort.