Sex workers and adult content sellers continue to leverage the cloud-based messaging app Telegram a month after the Philippine government announced that its planned ban would not push through.
One Telegram user, who requested anonymity, told Manila Standard that she utilizes the app for illicit services like video calls and sexual relations with clients.
“I don’t solicit down payments from guests. They either book my ride that has already been paid for, or we do a room meetup where they leave the payment on the table,” she said in Filipino.
This has been her primary income source for a year, typically earning around P3,000 per client.
“In a month, I always earn more than P20,000. I am content with earning little by little in a month, but I usually don’t hit P30,000 since I don’t always go out,” she added.
Meanwhile, another Facebook and TikTok user lamented how her pictures were being used by unknown accounts for the underground market.
“I get startled. Of course, knowing that I am enjoying myself only to learn that someone is already copying me,” she said, disturbed about fake profiles bearing her image.
While open to a possible Telegram ban, she admitted that the clearer quality of photos sent through the app remains useful.
“Telegram’s ability to send large files (up to 2GB) and media facilitates the exchange of illicit digital goods (e.g., pirated content, malware, or sexual abuse material) with ease,” read a 2025 study published in the Randwick International of Social Sciences Journal.
“Perhaps most consequential are Telegram’s channels and groups: a single user can broadcast to massive audiences (public channels can have unlimited subscribers and groups can hold thousands). Such scalability, combined with anonymity, means a criminal actor can reach tens of thousands of people with an illicit offer while revealing little about themselves,” it added.
The platform earlier reached an agreement with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) to implement several steps to ensure a safer digital space.
These include a 24/7 helpdesk response to act immediately on reported illegal content, regular reporting or monthly updates of takedowns and other metrics to the DICT and CICC, and zero tolerance for online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, illegal gambling, and other abusive activity.
According to Telegram, it blocks tens of thousands of groups and channels daily, including 11,024,679 so far in 2026, and removes millions of pieces of content that violate its terms of service, such as incitement to violence, sharing child abuse materials, and trading illegal goods.
The app is one of the most downloaded in the world, passing 1 billion monthly active users in 2025.
