Since yesterday (18/08 GMT) Telegram deleted a few channels and turned to private a lot of them.

Channels like @botlist and @OtherBots were turned to private.

In the case the channels were turned to private the usernames are not lost (if you don't change it, nobody can grab it) and if anybody search for the username directly on global search, the channel will be publicy available for all other users again (it will appear in recent actions that the creator of the channel grab it's older username, like the picture above).

The usernames are being retrieved with lowercases.

The affected channel seems to be the ones that didn't had posts for a long time (more than 1 year).

We still don't know if it is a Telegram bug or a new feature (to clear old unused public usernames).

Most of Premium users that were the creators of channels didn't had their channels turned to private.

All usernames that were "retrieved" (by searching it in global search) were gone again.
That mean you can no longer reach @botlist or @otherbots channels by their usernames. And their usernames are still restricted for use.

@botlist is back btw 🥳

Some users informed today that Telegram fixed the "bug" that allowed users to sell Telegram Premium for way cheaper prices.

What happened?
Telegram was using the local price from the buyers country to those who wanted gift Telegram Premium to users from another country.
Knowing that, some users were using Turkish VOIP numbers, to sell Telegram Premium to anybody in the world for less than ~2$ per month.
(Un)fortunately this doesn't seem to be possible anymore.

Now, only users with a phone number from the same country a can gift subnoscriptions at regional price. When gifting premium to users from other countries, price will be the internal one.

Para não cair em fake news sobre as eleições no Brasil em 2022, entre no canal oficial do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral no Telegram. Toque em: https://news.1rj.ru/str/tsejus, e depois toque em 'Entrar'.

Você também pode se inscrever para receber fatos verificados de Aos Fatos (https://news.1rj.ru/str/AosFatos) e Estadão Verifica (http://t.me/estadaoverifica).

Para novidades sobre a situação da COVID-19, esforços para a vacinação e de saúde pública no Brasil, entre no canal oficial do Ministério da Saúde no Telegram. Toque em http://t.me/MinisterioDaSaudeBR, e depois toque em ‘Entrar’.

Wir, das Telegram Team, bitten dich uns deine Meinung mitzuteilen, wie die Daten der deutschen Telegram-Nutzer mit den deutschen Behörden, einschließlich der deutschen Polizei (BKA), geteilt werden können (oder nicht).

Telegram gibt niemals Informationen über deine Chats oder Kontakte an Dritte weiter, auch nicht an staatliche Einrichtungen. 

Um trotzdem den Missbrauch unserer Plattform durch terroristische Gruppen zu verhindern, erlaubt uns unsere aktuelle Datenschutzerklärung seit 2018, IP-Adressen und Telefonnummern von Terrorverdächtigen auf Anfrage der Regierung, die durch einen Gerichtsbeschluss gestützt wird, offenzulegen.

Wir führen diese Abstimmung durch, um herauszufinden, ob unsere deutschen Nutzer unsere aktuelle Datenschutzerklärung unterstützen oder ob sie die Zahl der Fälle, in denen Telegram potenziell Daten an Behörden weitergeben kann, verringern oder erhöhen möchten. Wir stellen drei Optionen zur Wahl.

OPTION 1: Keine Änderungen. IP-Adressen und Telefonnummern von Terrorverdächtigen darf Telegram weiterhin nur aufgrund einer Gerichtsentscheidung weitergeben. Diese Option ist bereits in der aktuellen Datenschutzerklärung von Telegram enthalten.

OPTION 2: Auf Anfrage der deutschen Polizeibehörden darf Telegram IP-Adressen und Telefonnummern von Verdächtigen schwerer Straftaten offenlegen, auch wenn diese nicht durch eine Gerichtsentscheidung gestützt ist. Diese Option wäre, sofern sie Zustimmung findet, komplett neu für Telegram und erfordert deswegen eine Änderung unserer Datenschutzerklärung für Nutzer aus Deutschland.

OPTION 3: Unter keinen Umständen darf Telegram Nutzerinformationen weitergeben, inkl. IP-Adressen und Telefonnummern von Terrorverdächtigen. Wenn diese Option unterstützt wird, ändert Telegram seine Datenstruktur und die Datenschutzerklärung für Nutzer aus Deutschland.

Nur Nutzer, die mit deutschen Telefonnummern registriert sind, können an der Umfrage unten teilnehmen. Wir haben alle Telegram-Nutzer in Deutschland über diese Umfrage informiert. Die Umfrage bleibt bis zum 5. September, 12:00 Uhr deutscher Zeit (UTC+2), geöffnet.

Telegram is conducting a poll in Germany to change its Privacy Policy in the country. Just like the poll that happened in the Belarus channel in 2020, only users with Germany phone numbers can vote.

Today Telegram blocked a lot of channels and groups in Brazil.

For example: @caminhoneoroscombolsonaro

List of blockchain usernames that are already in use right now:

@huoke (1171576319)
@freebuma (-1001737446965)
@betbaz (-1001387803218)
@caunt (349763173)
@ashari (-1001883052342)
@foodsoul (-1001604133965)
@gromko (-1001060019844)
@flirt4free (1740471590)
@hinet (492025726)
@gotabit (-1001775413193)
@cryptofun (-1001845513000)
@cario (1542793892)
@acura (268598156)
@efsha (-1001765948407)
@autodoc (-1001808993218)
@galen (5799126919)
@ddoser (734613855)
@gleb (343944578)
@biggame (204848729)
@hypixel (5685420861)
@a_1win (-1001379091014)
@b_1win (-1001230425266)

Accounts created with brazillian phone numbers can't access the channel
@monarktalks

Brazillian IPs can't access t.me/s/monarktalks

Brazilian court determines the blocking of Telegram in the country (despite Telegram forward the group creator data)

The court ordered Telegram to send the phone (and IP) data of all members of 2 neo-Nazi groups in less than 24 hours.

About the 1º group, Telegram release the IP and phone of the creator of the neonazi channel @antissemitabr:

• Group link: https://news.1rj.ru/str/antissemitabr
• Creator ID: #6129271951
• Phone: +51969506146
• IP: 190.236.6.11, 11 Apr 2023, 4:16:36, UTC+0

About the 2º group "卐 Frente Anti-Semita 卐" (group ID: 1586278133) Telegram did not send any data claiming that the group had already been deleted and that it would only be able to send the creator's data if the police informed data that identified the creator's account (such as his ID or his phone number).

Despite this, the judge in the case determined the blocking of Telegram in the country. According to him, Telegram failed to comply with the decision because he had requested that Telegram send data from all members of the group (not just from administrators).

The judge also determined, as long as Telegram did not send the data, the application of a daily fine in the amount of 1,000,000 BRL per day or 5% of Telegram's profit in Brazil in 2022 (whichever was less).
Considering that Telegram does not have a very high invoice in Brazil, the amount of the fine is negligible.

Check the full decision below (in Portuguese):