Telegram explained for people under attack: channels, groups, bots and what can be removed

In short

Normal Telegram chats are not end-to-end encrypted: only “secret chats” are.

Channels and groups can reach a huge audience, and the people who run them stay hard to see.

On public content, reports can work; on groups and private chats, Telegram says it does not handle outside requests.

Since 2024 Telegram hands over the IP address and phone number to authorities that ask with a valid order. “Nothing can be done” is not true.

People who suffer online shaming or a harassment campaign on Telegram are often told two opposite things: “it is all encrypted, nobody can see anything” and “Telegram never cooperates anyway”. Neither is true. Understanding how the platform works helps you choose what to do.

How Telegram is built

Element	How it works	What it means for you
Normal chats, private and group	Encrypted between your phone and Telegram’s servers, and stored on the servers	They are not “invisible”: the content stays on the platform’s servers
Secret chats	End-to-end encrypted, only between two devices, and not stored on the servers	They are the only part that is truly end-to-end encrypted
Groups	Up to 200,000 members	A “private” group can have a mass audience
Channels	Unlimited subscribers, only the people who run it write	Huge reach, with administrators who are hard to see
Bots	Automatic programs that anyone can create	A few authors can hit many people, automatically

Telegram says that the data of users in the European Union and the United Kingdom is stored in data centres in the Netherlands.

First myth: “everything is encrypted”

It is not. In its FAQ Telegram explains that only secret chats are end-to-end encrypted. Normal chats, including group chats, are encrypted in transit and then stored on the platform’s servers.

Some newspapers have also written it wrongly. One thing matters for you: what happens in a group or a channel is not out of reach of the platform or, with the right tools, of the authorities.

Why people who organise a shaming campaign choose Telegram

There is not one single reason, but a set of features:

channels with unlimited subscribers and huge groups;
bots that automate the work;
profiles with a username and no visible phone number;
a cloud archive that stays available and can be searched;
moderation that acts on public content and almost never on private content;
until 2024, a history of few replies to requests from the authorities.

Telegram answers that it does not use algorithms to push content, and that groups therefore have to rely on other platforms to grow. The Italian parliamentary commission on femicide, in its report of 22 April 2026, describes it instead as a “safe haven”, citing the association PermessoNegato.

The AI Forensics study of April 2026 on Italian and Spanish groups speaks of harassment organised “as an infrastructure”: a structured and largely automated system, with bots that mass-produce fake intimate images.

What can be removed

Public content (public channels and groups). You can report it with the Report button in the app and by writing to abuse@telegram.org with the links of the messages. People who live in the European Union also have a procedure under the Digital Services Act.

Private groups and chats. Telegram writes in its FAQ that they are “private between their participants” and that it does not handle outside requests about them. Only someone who is a member can report, from the app. For the rest, the judicial authority is needed.

Profiles impersonating you. There is the official bot @NoToScam.

Material involving minors. Do not forward it, and report it only to the police.

Telegram says it blocked 15.4 million groups and channels in 2024, and that it uses artificial intelligence and the matching of image “fingerprints” for child sexual abuse material. These are figures supplied by Telegram itself, not verified by anyone else. Associations such as PermessoNegato report instead that their reports often go unanswered.

Second myth: “nothing can be done”

Since September 2024 Telegram’s privacy policy provides that, when it receives a valid order from a judicial authority naming a person as a suspect in crimes, the platform can hand over the IP address and phone number. Not the content of chats.

According to Telegram’s transparency data, collected by an independent archive, the requests fulfilled have grown a lot since then, also for Italy and Switzerland. We talk about it in Anonymous account: who can find out who is behind it.

But these data are obtained only by the judicial authority, and only if a report has been filed. That is why reporting is worth it.

And European and Swiss laws?

European Union. Telegram must comply with the general obligations of the Digital Services Act, such as offering a way to report illegal content. It is not, however, classed as a “very large platform”, because it states fewer than 45 million active users in the EU, and so it does not have the strictest obligations. Many organisations, including AI Forensics with more than 80 NGOs, are asking the European Commission to change this classification. In Italy, people who suffer abuse can file a complaint with AGCOM, also through an association.

Switzerland. The Digital Services Act does not apply. The Federal Council put out for consultation, until February 2026, a law on communication platforms, with reporting and complaint procedures. For now the criminal route remains.

What to do now

Save the evidence: how to preserve evidence of a shaming campaign on Telegram.
Report public content to Telegram.
Report to the police: what to do if you ended up in a group or channel.
Find support: Who can help you.

Updated 14 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.