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…The neo-#Nazis …have made the app their headquarters for posting #hate & planning violence.

“Shut It Down,” one person posted in a #WhiteSupremacist chat on Tues, hours after #Telegram founder #PavelDurov announced he would begin sharing some users’ identifying information w/ #law enforcement.

With >900M users around the globe, Telegram has been both revered & reviled for its hands-off approach to moderating posted #content.

The platform made headlines this summer when French authorities arrested #PavelDurov, seeking to hold him responsible for illegal activity that has been conducted or facilitated on the platform — including organized #DrugTrafficking, #ChildPornography & #fraud.

Durov … acknowledged that #criminals have abused the platform & promised in a #Telegram post to “significantly improve things in this regard.”

#PavelDurov’s announcement marked a considerable policy shift: He said #Telegram will now share the IP addresses & phone numbers of users who violate the platform’s rules w/authorities “in response to valid legal requests.”

This was the 2nd time in weeks that #extremists had called on their brethren to abandon Telegram.

The 1st flurry of panic followed indictments by the #DOJ of 2 alleged leaders of the #Terrorgram Collective, a group of #WhiteSupremacists accused of inciting others on the platform to commit #racist #killings.

An analysis by ProPublica & FRONTLINE, however, shows that despite the wave of early panic, users didn’t initially leave the platform. Instead there was a surge in activity on Terrorgram-aligned channels & chats….