A multitude of files, close to 80,000, consisting of non-consensual intimate media of women were traded on Telegram groups and channels, according to research by AI Forensics, cited by reports on Wednesday. The campaign group stated that it uncovered up to 25,000 active users who were sharing non-consensual nude photos of women in exchange for money, as per its study on Spanish and Italian Telegram groups that spanned for a period of six weeks.
"Monetization occurs via 20–50 euro one-time fees or 5 euro per month subscriptions," the researchers said on their official website.The researchers traced over 80,000 files which were shared via 16 Telegram channels in the time span of December 2025 to February 2026.
Around 75% of them were photos with 25% video files. The researchers found a majority of them to be sexually explicit with some of them containing images of teenage girls.
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Some of the images and videos were real while others were AI-generated deepfakes. The group also reported that users were enlisting "nudifying" AI bots to artificially unclothe people depicted in images. The media also contained depictions of CSAM (child sexual abuse material), sexual assault and incest, as per reports.
This content was not limited to Telegram with the study identifying other social media sites such as TikTok, Reddit and Instagram as "key pipelines" for the dissemination of such media.
The researchers also noted "doxxing practices" where users would reveal personal information such as addresses, names or phone numbers of others without their consent as well as participate in organised targeted harrasment campaigns.
The researchers told AFP news that Telegram's moderation was lacking as it shut down many of these groups but failed to take action when they reopened under different names, within the span of a few hours. They also noted that Telegram's end-to-end encryption along with its mass ciruclation capabilities has created conditions for abusive behaviour to take place with safety and immunity.
The researchers called on the European Union (EU) to take action against these activities and to hold Telegram accountable for facilitating them.
"These findings highlight systemic platform failures. Stronger EU action is needed, including designating Telegram a VLOP (very large platform) under the DSA (Digital Services Act) and addressing synthetic abuse in the AI Act," the researchers said on their website.
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