Telegram: Why It Is Hard to Make Safe for Children

What Changed

This is a standing advisory rather than news of a change: Telegram remains poorly suited to children. Users can join huge public groups and channels with minimal checks, and some of these carry explicit, drug-related or extremist content. Telegram offers no parental-control or family-supervision features, and its Secret Chats use end-to-end encryption with self-destructing messages, making those conversations effectively impossible to monitor. Telegram's own terms say users in the UK must be at least 18 to sign up, but a rule in the terms does not by itself stop a child joining with a false age. On 21 April 2026 Ofcom opened an investigation into Telegram's compliance with its illegal content duties in relation to child sexual abuse material; it is an open investigation, not a finding.

What to Review

• •Check whether Telegram is on your child's devices and have an open conversation about why they use it and which groups they have joined.

Parent Actions