Telegram channel of Hamas closed
Earlier, Meta and X banned the pro-independence Palestinian armed guerrillas Hamas from their platforms on the pretext of war rumors. And this time two channels named 'Hamas_Com' and 'Al Qassam Brigades' were closed for Android users by Telegram.
The Jerusalem Post reports that messaging service Telegram had to ban various channels used by Hamas on its Android version to comply with the Google's App Store policy. As a result, those who have downloaded the Telegram app from the Google Play Store shows an 'error' message when they try to access the channels.
An anonymous Google employee confirmed the authenticity of the report. He also referred to a report published by tech site Verge about Google's 'terrorism-related' policy for various apps.
Meanwhile, US TV channel CNBC reported that two channels named 'Hamas_Com' and 'Al Qassam Brigades' were closed for Android users, but other channels used by the armed group such as 'Gaza Now' are still accessible.
Earlier in a post on October 13, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov wrote that he was skeptical about blocking channels used by Hamas because "blocking war broadcasts is not so clear". He also wrote that Hamas used telegrams to warn citizens to evacuate the area shortly before the attack.
