An update posted by the company said it was "disturbed" that supporters of the terror group had been using its encrypted services to send messages. As a result it has blocked "78 Isis-related channels across 12 languages" in the last week.
Telegram, a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app, keeps all messages private and encrypted but channels that broadcast messages to audiences are public. The channels, a feature which was only introduced at the end of September, have quickly been seized on by Isis to spread messages. "We were disturbed to learn that Telegram's public channels were being used by Isis to spread their propaganda," Telegram said in its own channel, which is only available to users of the service.
It continued to say: "All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them. But sticker sets, channels, and bots on Telegram are publicly available". The company said it will block terrorist bots and channels but won't block those who "peacefully expresses alternative opinions."
The attacks on Paris have re-opened the debate over security services being able to access messages sent on encrypted services. CIA director John Brennan has argued that terrorists are increasingly turning to encrypted forms of communication in the wake of Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations.
But research by Jihadist intelligence organisation Flashpoint in 2014 claimed there has been no evidence of terrorists using encrypted messages more than they were before the disclosures. "The underlying public encryption methods employed by online jihadists do not appear to have significantly changed since the emergence of Edward Snowden," it argued.
In the wake of the Paris attacks reports wrongly claimed that those responsible used the PlayStation Network to communicate without being detected. It has since been reported that those who committed the attacks used non-encrypted SMS messages to communicate, which authorities have said they can trace.
It also comes at a time when the UK government's draft Investigatory Powers Bill urges messaging companies not to end-to-end encrypt any online communications.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
