Thousands Of Men Using Telegram To Spy On Women And Share Private Images, New Research Warns

Thousands of men are members of secretive Telegram groups and channels where hacking tools, surveillance software, and illegally obtained private images of women are being openly bought and sold, according to new research by a European digital rights organisation.

The findings, published by AI Forensics, a nonprofit group that studies algorithmic harm, reveal the scale of technology-enabled abuse taking place on one of the world's most popular messaging platforms, which counts more than one billion monthly active users.

What the Research Found

According to WIRED, over a period of six weeks earlier this year, researchers examined nearly 2.8 million messages sent across 16 Telegram communities operating in Italian and Spanish. More than 24,000 members were found to have shared over 82,000 images, videos, and audio files during the study period.

The communities were found to be advertising a wide range of illegal services, including the hacking of social media accounts, unauthorised access to mobile phone galleries, and tools designed to secretly monitor a partner's digital activity. One post, translated by researchers, read: "I hack and recover any type of social media service. I can spy on your partner's account."

Researchers recorded more than 18,000 references to spying or surveillance-related content across the dataset. Some posts openly advertised bots capable of accessing a woman's photo gallery without her knowledge.

Access to certain channels was available for as little as five euros per month, with some services priced between 20 and 50 euros.

Ordinary Women Are the Primary Targets

While some posts targeted celebrities and public figures, researchers stressed that the majority of victims are ordinary women, many of whom are completely unaware that their images are being shared or altered.

"We tend to forget that most victims are ordinary women who sometimes do not even know that their pictures are shared or manipulated in these types of channels," said Silvia Semenzin, a researcher at AI Forensics. "The majority of this violence is directed towards people who the perpetrators know personally."

Semenzin, who first exposed similar Italian Telegram networks as far back as 2019, called for Telegram to be classified as a "very large online platform" under European online safety regulations, which would subject it to far stricter oversight.

Telegram's Response

A Telegram spokesperson tells WIRED that the company removes "millions" of pieces of content per day using "custom AI tools" and has policies in Europe that do not allow the promotion of violence, illegal sexual content including nonconsensual imagery, and other content such as doxing and selling illegal goods and services.

The company said it had blocked nearly 12 million groups and channels this year alone, including more than 153,000 linked to child abuse material.

"We firmly reject the idea that Telegram profits from content we are actively taking down," the spokesperson said, adding that the platform continues to work within European Union regulations.

A Wider Global Problem

Researchers and digital safety advocates have long pointed to Telegram as a central hub within the broader ecosystem of technology-enabled abuse against women.

"Any platform or app that can be used to harm women and girls will be," said Adam Dodge, a lawyer and founder of EndTAB (End Technology-Enabled Abuse), an organisation focused on ending technology-enabled abuse. "Telegram stands out because it offers anonymity, speed, and large networks of like-minded users."

Similar networks have previously been uncovered in China, Germany, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, suggesting the problem extends well beyond Europe.

"These networks that we found are a very small sample of a much larger phenomenon," said Salvatore Romano, head of research at AI Forensics. "Without Telegram, it would be much harder for these people to have such a large user base."

Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, is currently under criminal investigation in France over alleged criminal activity taking place on the platform, though he has denied all allegations.