Telegram disables People Nearby feature as CEO Pavel Durov faces charges

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has announced that the company has removed some of the features that were being used by scammers for defrauding users and for illicit activities. Durov, via a post on X and on his official channel on the platform, announced that the company had removed the 'People Nearby' feature from the app as it being used by bots and scammers.

"We’ve removed the People Nearby feature, which was used by less than 0.1% of Telegram users, but had issues with bots and scammers," Durov wrote in his post on X (formerly Twitter).

"We’ve also disabled new media uploads to Telegraph, our standalone blogging tool, which seems to have been misused by anonymous actors," he added in his post.

For the unversed, Telegram had introduced the 'People Nearby' feature in the app back in 2019. At the time, the feature was introduced with the idea of letting people connect with other Telegram users near their location or 'standing next to them' without having to worry about getting their phone numbers. A year later, the company upgraded the feature for 'exchanging contact info face-to-face'. Now, nearly five years after first introducing its 'People Nearby' feature, the company has disabled the functionality for good.

Durov in its post said that Telegram is replacing the feature with a new feature called 'Business Nearby'. This new feature will show verified businesses within the app along with their product catalogs. "In its place, we will be launching “Businesses Nearby”, showcasing legitimate, verified businesses. These businesses will be able to display product catalogs and accept payments seamlessly," Durov wrote.

It is worth noting that these changes follow the probe by the French authorities into the organised crime activities on Telegram. As a part of the probe, French authorities have put the Telegram CEO under formal investigation and he has been barred from leaving the country.