Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said the platform has been removing more problematic content and will be more proactive in complying with government requests.

The announcement comes weeks after he was arrested in France on charges of failing to combat a crime on the app.

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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France on August 24. Photo: Bloomberg

On a private messaging channel with more than 13 million subscribers, Durov said Telegram's search feature was being abused by people violating its terms of service to sell illegal goods.

Over the past few weeks, company employees have been using AI to ensure any problematic content they identified in search is no longer accessible.

Telegram has updated its terms of service and privacy policy to clarify that it will share details of violators with authorities – including internet IP addresses and phone numbers – “in response to valid legal requests,” Durov added.

“We will not let bad actors compromise the integrity of our platform for nearly a billion users,” he said.

Durov was arrested on August 24 as he arrived at Le Bourget airport by private plane. After several days of questioning, he was charged with failing to prevent extremist and terrorist content but was released on bail of 5 million euros ($5.6 million).

During the investigation, Telegram CEO had to stay in France and report to the police twice a week.

Durov - who holds Russian, French, United Arab Emirates, and St Kitts and Nevis passports - initially criticised the arrest, but appeared to have bowed to Paris' demands.

On September 6, he said Telegram would change its “people nearby” feature to introduce users to “legitimate businesses” instead of “bots and scammers.”

He pledged to turn Telegram's censorship from criticism to praise.

Durov, a mysterious figure who rarely speaks in public, has an estimated fortune of $15.5 billion but pursues an ascetic lifestyle such as taking cold showers and not drinking alcohol or coffee, according to Forbes magazine.

(According to The Guardian)