The decision to ban Hamas-aligned channels came despite Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's longtime support of keeping the channels open and free of content policing.ĭurov, a Russian-born tech mogul who is now based in Dubai, has argued on his platform that the Hamas channels have provided an important source of information about the war.Įarlier this month, Durov said in a Telegram message that Hamas has used channels on his platform to warn Palestinian civilians about looming missile strikes. Telegram crackdown follows CEO's prior defense of Hamas-linked channels 'When violations are found we take appropriate action,' a Google spokesman said. 'Hamas uses these channels as psychological terror tools to influence Western public,' said Ron Machol, Zachor Legal Institute's Chief Operating Officer.Ī spokesman for Google would not confirm whether it asked Telegram to remove Hamas channels, but pointed to the company's app store policies which require that apps moderate content that celebrates terrorist attacks or promotes violence. But Zachor Legal Institute says it believes Apple was responding to its demands. Whether Apple applied pressure on Telegram to remove the channels is uncertain Apple has not responded to multiple requests for comment. A spokesman for Telegram did not return a request for comment. It is not clear why Telegram disallowed some Hamas channels and let others remain. Less than 24 hours later, Telegram banned on Apple devices four of the seven channels Zachor Legal Institute highlighted, including Qassam Brigades, a channel dedicated to Hamas' military wing that had more than 700,000 subscribers and an account known as Spokesman_ 2020 that had more than 500,000 followers.īut three other channels with links to Hamas, which together have nearly 1 million subscribers, were still active Telegram channels on iPhones. The group pleaded with Apple to force Telegram to also remove the channels from being available on iPhones and other Apple devices. Last week, the pro-Israel Zachor Legal Institute sent Apple a letter pointing out seven accounts with connections to Hamas that were still available on Telegram for Apple users, while Telegram had removed them for Android devices.

Telegram removes Hamas channels after pressure from advocacy group

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