How to Report Content in Telegram?

Telegram users regularly encounter content or actions that they believe violate the platform’s rules. In this article, we explain how to file complaints on Telegram.

This article is related to another one: “How to Сontact Telegram?”. Maybe it will also be useful for you.

Table of content:

  1. Common
  2. Personal chat
  3. Group or Channel Message
  4. Reacting to a message in a group
  5. Entire group
  6. Entire channel
  7. Bots
  8. Illegal content in global search results
  9. Other ways to send complaints

1. Common

Here’s what you need to know about Telegram’s complaints system:

  1. Sending a complaint does not always result in an immediate punishment for the offender. Telegram decides who, when and for what to punish. Telegram users do not have a guaranteed way to punish the offender.
  2. There is no exact number of complaints that need to be sent to a message, channel, bot or any other object for Telegram to punish the offender. The decision is made individually. Telegram does not publish information about what factors such a decision depends on.
  3. Telegram almost never responds to sent complaints, even if they are sent not in the application, but by email. But this does not mean that no one processes complaints.

2. Personal chat

When can be reported?

In a personal chat, you can complain about another user only if all the following conditions are met:

  1. The user started the dialogue with you by sending the first message.
  2. The user has not been added to your contact list.
  3. No more than 7 days have passed since the dialogue began.

How to report?

If the «BLOCK» button is displayed above the dialogue, click it and check the «Report spam» box. If there is no such button, then Telegram no longer allows you to complain about the interlocutor.

Please note: with this method of sending a complaint, you cannot specify a specific reason for the complaint.

3. Group or Channel Message

When can be reported?

A group message can only be reported if it has already been upgraded from a basic group to a supergroup. This happens when the group is made public, or when history is made visible, or when non-standard permissions are assigned to all members, and in some other cases.

A channel message can be reported in any case.

How to report?

Click next to the message and select «Report».

Specify the reason for the report. If the app asks for a comment, add a short description.

4. Reacting to a message in a group

When can be reported?

The reaction must be left by a user who is not added to your contact list.

How to report?

  1. Click next to the message under which the reaction was left.
  2. Open the list of reactions and click on the name of the user you want to report.
  3. Click the «Report reaction» button.

5. Entire group

When can be reported?

You can only report a group if the group has already been upgraded from a basic group to a supergroup (see above).

How to report?

  1. Open the group.
  2. On PC and Android: click the button with three dots in the upper right corner of the screen and select «Report». On iPhone: click the title of the screen, then the «More» button with three dots, and select «Report».
  3. Specify the reason for the report. If the app asks you to add a comment, provide a brief description of the reason for the complaint.

6. Entire channel

When can be reported?

You can complain about absolutely any channel.

How to report?

  1. Open the channel.
  2. On PC and Android: click on the button with three dots in the upper right corner of the screen and select «Report». On iPhone: click on the screen title, then on the «More» button with three dots, and select «Report».
  3. Specify the reason for the report. If the application asks to add a comment, specify a brief description of the reason for the complaint.
  4. Mark one or more messages that violate Telegram rules.
  5. Click the «Report N messages» button.

7. Bots

When can be reported?

Always

How to report?

  1. Open chat with bot.
  2. Tap on the button with three dots in the upper right corner of the screen and select «Report».
  3. Specify the reason for the complaint. If the application asks for a comment, add a short description.

8. Illegal content in global search results

On September 23, 2024, Pavel Durov announced in his channel that Telegram was changing global search algorithms and connecting AI to the moderation processes. From that moment on, users were able to complain about illegal content displayed in global search results using the official Search Report Bot.

9. Other ways to send complaints

In addition to the above methods, Telegram offers other channels for sending complaints about content. We described them in detail in the article «How to contact Telegram?«