Popular instant messaging app Telegram is now labeled as the source of controversy after an investigation carried out by BBC revealed that nude pictures of women have been disseminated as a means of blackmail and ridicule.
Additionally, personal details inclusive of home addresses and phone numbers were posted alongside the explicit photos.
One user identified as ‘Sara’ pointed out that a nude photo had been leaked on Telegram and as a result, her life fell in shambles as stalkers swarmed both her Instagram and Facebook accounts to satisfy their insatiable thirst for nude photos.
“They made me feel like a prostitute because they believe I’d share intimate pictures of myself. It meant I had no value as a woman,” Sara explained.
Sara further noted that the photo in question was shared with one person but had ended up in a Telegram group with over 18,000 followers, many of whom were from her neighborhood in Havana, Cuba.
Sara exclaimed that since the ordeal, a sense of fear and shame has taken over.
“I didn’t want to go out, I didn’t want to have any contact with my friends. The truth is that I suffered a lot,” Sara lamented.
Further investigations also revealed that large groups and channels have also been sharing stolen or leaked images of women in at least 30 countries, leaving thousands to adjust to a new life.
One such victim is a citizen of Azerbaijan, Nigar, who was forced to leave her home after a video surfaced of her and her ex-husband having sex.
The video was shared in a group of 40,000 members. In the footage, Nigar’s ex-husband’s face was blurred but hers is clearly visible.
Nigar believes that her ex secretly filmed her to blackmail her brother, a prominent critic of Azerbaijan’s President.
“They look at you as if you are a disgrace, who cares if you are married?” Nigar exclaimed.
“I can’t recover, I see a therapist twice a week, they say there is no progress so far. They ask if I can forget it and I say no,” she added.
Following this, Telegram owner Natalia Crapiva has noted that it is not the aim of the company to censor users.
Telegram has long been popular with pro-democracy protesters in countries with media censorship.
Users can post without sharing their name or phone number and create public or private groups with up to 200,000 members or channels that can broadcast to an unlimited number of people.
