In June, Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov said the messaging service experienced a “state actor-sized” cyber attack and pointed to China as its likely country of origin. That option represents a balance between making it easy for users to find their contacts and the privacy needs of those who rely on the app for protection against state security agents, the source said.īut wide adoption of the optional security setting would make the app far harder to use for the vast majority of its more than 200 million consumers, who rely on uploading phone contacts to identify friends and family members on the app, the source said. The fix Telegram is working on would allow users to disable matching by phone number. Protesters use encrypted apps like Telegram to mobilize swiftly through multiple group chats, with less risk of police infiltration, an in-depth report published by Reuters earlier this month said. Thousands of Hong Kong protesters take their cues from more than 100 groups on Telegram, according to protest organizers and supporters. It declined to comment about whether it had tried to identify protesters by using the Telegram app.Ĭhina’s Foreign Ministry, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of business hours. Hong Kong’s Security Bureau told Reuters it has “been acting responsibly to deal with the current difficult time with a view to restoring the public order”.
The update to Telegram, planned for release over the next few days, will allow protesters to prevent mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities from discovering their identities in the app’s large group chats.
FILE PHOTO: Protesters check their phones as they take part in a protest inside the Yuen Long MTR station, the scene of an attack by suspected triad gang members a month ago, in Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong, China August 21, 2019.
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