Have you ended up in a Telegram group or channel? What to do right away, in Italy and in Switzerland

In short

If there are threats of violence, call 112 (Italy) or 117 (Switzerland) straight away.

Save the evidence before anything else: links, names, IDs, date and time.

Report to Telegram, but know that on private groups the platform does little: the main route is reporting to the police.

In Italy and in Switzerland many of these crimes are prosecuted only if the victim files a criminal complaint, and there are deadlines.

Do not reply, do not join the group, do not spread the name of the channel.

Finding out that you have ended up in a Telegram group or channel, with your photos, damaging accusations or your data, is a shock. Often you find out from a friend who forwards a screenshot, or from messages that suddenly arrive. This guide puts the things to do in order, the most urgent first.

1. Safety first, then everything else

If in the group or in private there are threats of violence against you or your family, or if an address is published, do not wait: call 112 in Italy or 117 in Switzerland and warn the people you live with.

Do not stay alone. Talk to someone you trust. In Switzerland, victim support answers on 142, free and confidential, also for family members. In Italy, 1522 deals with violence and stalking. You will find all the contacts on the page Who can help you.

2. Save the evidence before it disappears

A channel can be closed, renamed or emptied in a few minutes. Before reporting or blocking, save:

the link to every important message: in Telegram Desktop, right-click the message › Copy link;
the name and username of the group or channel and of the accounts that write;
the numeric ID of the accounts, which does not change when name and username change: you find it by exporting the chat from Telegram Desktop in JSON format;
date and time of every message;
who warned you and when: they may serve as a witness.

A screenshot alone, without link and date, is worth little. We have explained step by step how to do it in How to preserve evidence of online shaming on Telegram.

3. Report to Telegram

Telegram offers several reporting channels:

the Report button in the app, on a message, a group or a channel;
the address abuse@telegram.org for public content, giving the links of the messages;
for people in the European Union, a procedure under the Digital Services Act, the European regulation on digital services;
the official bot @NoToScam if someone is impersonating you.

But you need to know a limit. In its FAQ Telegram writes that groups and private chats “are private between their participants” and that it does not process external requests concerning them. In practice:

on public channels and groups a report can lead to removal;
on private groups only members can report, from the app. For anything else, the judicial authority is needed.

For this reason a report to Telegram is useful, but it does not replace reporting to the police.

4. If there are intimate images

If intimate images of you, real or created with artificial intelligence, are circulating in the group, or someone threatens to circulate them:

in Italy you can ask the data protection authority (Garante privacy) to step in preventively: it decides within 48 hours;
for the other platforms you can use StopNCII, which blocks the images without you having to upload them. Telegram, however, does not take part;
do not forward the images to anyone, not even to report them. If they involve minors, report them only to the police.

All the steps are on the page Intimate images are being shared or threatened to be shared.

5. Report to the police, and do it early

You can report even if you do not know who is behind it: only the authorities can ask Telegram and the operators for the account data. Since 2024 Telegram states that it hands over IP address and phone number when it receives a valid order from a judicial authority.

In Italy. You can go to the Polizia Postale or to any Police or Carabinieri station. Many of these crimes, such as defamation and stalking (atti persecutori), are prosecuted only on a criminal complaint (querela), that is, if the victim asks for it. In a parliamentary hearing the Polizia Postale reminded that without a complaint it cannot investigate. The deadlines are as a rule 3 months for defamation and 6 months for stalking and for sharing intimate images, from when you became aware of it.

In Switzerland. You can go to the cantonal police or to the public prosecutor’s office. Here too many crimes, such as those against honour, are prosecuted only on a criminal complaint. The general deadline is 3 months.

Deadlines and offences should be checked with a lawyer: they depend on your case. The glossary explains the difference between a report and a criminal complaint.

6. What not to do

Do not reply and do not provoke: every reply feeds the group and can make it look like a quarrel between two sides.
Do not join the group with your account to defend yourself or to “see what they say”: you expose yourself and give them new material.
Do not spread the name of the group or channel, not even to denounce it publicly. The parliamentary Commission on femicide, in its report of 22 April 2026, warned precisely about this: naming the groups advertises them and makes them grow.
Do not try to unmask the offenders on your own and do not publish names: they often use other people’s identities, and you risk hitting an innocent person.

7. If you are not the only person targeted

These groups rarely target only one person. If you find that other people are getting the same treatment, getting in touch, preferably through an association or a lawyer, makes the reports stronger and easier to link.

In Italy there is also a collective route: a complaint to AGCOM, the communications authority, against a platform that does not respect its obligations under the Digital Services Act. Individual users can file it, and so can associations, and AGCOM can combine several complaints. For Telegram it forwards the complaint to the Belgian authority, which supervises the platform.

If you wish, write to us: we collect reports precisely to understand how many people the same group affects.

What to do now

If there are threats: 112 (Italy) or 117 (Switzerland).
Save links, names, IDs, date and time of everything.
Report to Telegram from the app and, for public content, to abuse@telegram.org.
Book an appointment to report to the police and check the deadlines with a lawyer.
Protect your accounts with the Protect yourself guide.
Look for support: Who can help you.

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