Barnsley MP urges Telegram to 'take responsibility' for extremist and abuse content shared on platform as she accuses it of becoming a 'digital swamp'

Stephanie Peacock, Labour MP for Barnsley East, told The Yorkshire Post she was angry at the site’s “complete lack of responsibility” over extremism - some of which being ‘violent’ in nature - and even child abuse material being shared on the private app.

Telegram is a fully-encrypted messaging and chat app which allows users to talk with total privacy and saw its number of users surpass 500m in January amidst concerns over data sharing.

However, police and counter-terrorism units have previously issued warnings over extremists who exploit the app’s privacy to share content and radicalise vulnerable people.

Ms Peacock wrote to Telegram Chief Executive Pavel Durov on Tuesday after a member of anti-extremist campaign group HOPE Not Hate, whose all-party Parliamentary group she chairs, discovered a violent death threat aimed at a member of its staff.

The threat, she said, which was “in the form of a graphic distributed in a far-right terrorist channel”, was reported to both the app and to police, although as of yesterday no action had been taken to remove it.

Upon discovering the threat, HOPE Not Hate staff went on to find child abuse content.

In Ms Peacock’s letter, she accused the site of becoming “a digital swamp”, and warned that the company needed to “act responsibly” or “face the consequences”.

“The letter speaks for itself with the details of this particular case,” Ms Peacock said.

“The issue is part of an ongoing pattern. I’m very concerned about the complete lack of responsibility shown by Telegram.

“Some chats contain discussions around acts of terror and death threats which anybody can access, leaving many susceptible to being radicalised.”

Nick Lowles, CEO of HOPE Not Hate, said: “It is simply unacceptable that Telegram has failed to take action in this instance – not only has a member of our team been the victim of disgusting death threats on the app, the fact that vile imagery and content showing child exploitation has not been immediately taken down beggars belief.

“Telegram’s irresponsible approach to moderation on its platform has meant that it has become a breeding ground for extremism, enabling far-right terrorist groups to mobilise and use the app to grow in numbers.

“It is now vital that we see Telegram take a tougher stance on harmful and violent content and outline an approach that stops this type of content from being propagated once and for all”.

The Yorkshire Post has contacted Telegram for a response.