You currently need a phone number to sign up for Telegram. Add an option to sign up using an email address or another method, like some messengers do (e.g., Wire, Matrix, Threema, Session).
Potential spam issues could be mitigated by:
Only allowing addresses from major email providers at first and slowly expanding reach if it's manageable.
Automatically limiting such accounts from contacting strangers until their perform some additional actions.
Allowing group admins to prevent such accounts from posting by default.
Use Cases
Avoiding an identifier tied to your identity, hiding identity from governments or people who know your number.
Workaround
Use a virtual phone number.
Warning: Do NOT use temporary numbers to connect to your account, as you may lose access to your account when you lose access to the number.
Even today spamming is bad, so you would need much more restrictions. 1. They wouldn't be allowed to write a pm to anyone without getting a message from them first, or being personally invited by a mod in a private group. They also wouldn't be able to write a post outside of a private group.
2. And they have to get their writing permissions taken away if one member in one group marks one of their posts as spam. - Until a mod gives back the writing permissions.
3. Furthermore, you would need good captchas.
Mantas
Using phone numbers is not reliable. I had a case, when someone joined Telegram using a very old number of my fried, from my contacts, but my friend no longer use that phone number and someone else reused it. But Telegram displayed name as it was in my contacts, not a real name of that person. So I mistakenly assumed, that this was my friend, but in fact it was not.
One phone number can be reused multiple times, by different people and it is not a reliable authentication method.
Some reasons why this suggestion is still very important
Ludovico
Important idea for activist in particular!
Ludovico
I've posted a similar proposal but I don't see any news from 2020 on honestly...and that's sad cause it's a cool idea!
Emilia
Any update about this important feature?
Ludovico
No updates... even if it's one of the most important and missing features in telegram
Brandon
I think this could/should be included in the cost of premium—especially when a lot of users say that the reason this feature is a ‘bad idea’ is because of easy bot/fake account creations: if you’re paying for premium then that proves it is a real account (much more so than providing a phone number!)
So a person doesn't want to give their phone number in order to not share data but your idea is to make him share payments data. I think it doesn't solve the problem
Brandon
> solve the problem
I wasn’t so much trying to solve anything as much as I was trying to compromise and meet the devs halfway on the issue of spam account creations.
Brandon
Also, you’re not actually sharing your payment data with telegram if you buy through the App Store or Google Play.
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1. They wouldn't be allowed to write a pm to anyone without getting a
message from them first, or being personally invited by a mod in a
private group.
They also wouldn't be able to write a post outside of a private group.
2. And they have to get their writing permissions taken away if one
member in one group marks one of their posts as spam. - Until a mod
gives back the writing permissions.
3. Furthermore, you would need good captchas.
One phone number can be reused multiple times, by different people and it is not a reliable authentication method.
Some reasons why this suggestion is still very important
I wasn’t so much trying to solve anything as much as I was trying to compromise and meet the devs halfway on the issue of spam account creations.