Messaging app Telegram has joined the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to combat the sharing of child sexual abuse imagery online.

The membership agreement with the IWF will grant Telegram access to the IWF’s datasets and technology to help tackle child sexual abuse imagery on the platform.

This includes utilising IWF “hashes”, unique digital fingerprints of millions of known child sexual abuse images and videos, which are used to detect when this criminal content is being shared in public parts of the site.

Telegram will also deploy tools to block “non-photographic” depictions of child sexual abuse, including known AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery, as well as tools to block links to webpages known to harbour child sexual abuse material.

Additionally, the IWF will offer bespoke solutions to specific abuses of the site, including helping to identify and stop accounts being used for distributing and profiting from commercialised child sexual abuse material.

“Telegram removes hundreds of thousands of child abuse materials each month, relying on reports and proactive moderation which includes AI, machine learning, and hash-matching,” said Remi Vaughn, head of press and media relations at Telegram. “The IWF’s datasets and tools will strengthen the mechanisms Telegram has in place to protect its public platform – and further ensure that Telegram can continue to effectively delete child abuse materials before they can reach any users.”

Telegram, which has around 950 million active users, made headlines earlier in the year when its chief executive Pavel Durov was detained in Paris. Prosecutors claimed the platform had failed to take action against harmful and criminal content on the site, including child sexual abuse imagery.

---