Delhi Delhi. Telegram is being used by millions of users every month to create and distribute deepfake nude photos of people, a new report suggests. The platform, owned by Pavel Durov, has at least 50 bots that are being used by more than 4 million users each month to create deepfake nude photos of women, in some cases even teenage girls. According to a study conducted by Wired, two of the 50 Telegram bots analyzed had more than 4,00,000 users per month, while 14 other bots had more than 1,00,000 users per month. These bots are supported by at least 25 Telegram channels with more than three million subscribers “where people can subscribe to newsfeed-style updates”.
These channels alert subscribers to new features being introduced by bots and special tokens that can be purchased to operate them and create photos. According to the study, these Telegram channels also serve as a place where users of the bot can find links to new bots in case they are removed by the company. Furthermore, the study states that these bots come with different capabilities. While some claim they can 'remove clothes' from photos, others claim to create deepfake images of people in 'various sexual acts'. Then there are some other bots that require users to share multiple images to create the desired image and train their AI models in the process. The study also claims that while some bots mention 'nudity and removal of women's clothing' in their names, others do not provide explicit content in their names or landing pages.
To make the situation worse, Telegram's recommendation engine highlights 'similar channels' for users visiting any such channel that creates deepfake nude images. This helps users bounce between images and channels and increases usage. Additionally, Telegram can force bot developers to accept terms of use, which could prevent users from uploading photos of individuals without consent and help prevent trouble in the process. However, the study notes that 'there is little or no enforcement of these rules'. Deepfake expert Henry Ajdar said in a statement to the publication, “It's really worrying that these tools – which are literally ruining lives and creating a very frightening scenario for mainly young girls and women “—are still easily accessible and discoverable on the Surface Web, on one of the world's largest apps.”
Although Telegram has not commented on the matter, it has removed about 75 such bots from its platform. It is worth noting that this report comes after Telegram's founder was arrested for allegedly criminal charges at an airport outside Paris in France. This comes shortly after he was arrested for enabling activity, including the distribution of child abuse images and drug trafficking images, on the platform.
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