Telegram Hosts 150 Channels Spreading AI Deepfakes in Global Wave of Digital Abuse

A Global Network Exposed

A major investigation by the Guardian has revealed at least 150 Telegram channels operating across multiple continents, from the UK to Brazil, China to Nigeria, Russia to India, dedicated to creating and sharing AI-generated nude deepfakes of women. Some channels offer nudified photos for a fee, delivering AI-generated explicit content within minutes of a user uploading any woman's photo.

Industrial-Scale Abuse

The investigation found channels featuring AI-manipulated images of celebrities, social media influencers, and ordinary women. A Russian-language channel advertising "blogger leaks" promised "a neural network that doesn't know the word 'no'," while a Chinese-language channel with nearly 25,000 subscribers featured men sharing manipulated videos of women they know personally.

Telegram stated that deepfake pornography is explicitly forbidden under its terms of service and that moderators removed more than 952,000 pieces of offending material in 2025. However, the platform's encryption and broadcast features have made it "a mainstay of a broader internet ecosystem devoted to creating and disseminating non-consensual intimate images," according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Wider Crisis Unfolds

The investigation comes as Ofcom launched a formal probe into Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot for generating sexualized deepfakes, with researchers estimating Grok produced up to three million such images in just days. The European Commission has also opened an investigation under the Digital Services Act, while Indonesia and Malaysia have blocked Grok entirely.

Meanwhile, a Tech Transparency Project report found 55 nudify apps on Google Play and 47 on Apple's App Store, collectively downloaded 705 million times and generating 117 million dollars in revenue. Both companies have since removed dozens of apps.

Victims Without Protection

The consequences are particularly devastating in regions with limited legal protections. World Bank data shows fewer than 40 percent of countries have laws protecting women from cyber-harassment, while the UN estimates 1.8 billion women lack adequate legal shields against online abuse. Victims have faced denied employment and school disciplinary proceedings over circulated deepfakes.