Editing ICQ (section)

==Criticism==
===Policy against unofficial clients===
[[AOL]] (and later Mail.ru) pursued an aggressive policy regarding alternative ("unauthorized") ICQ clients.
*In July 2008, changes were implemented on ICQ servers causing many unofficial clients to stop working. These users received an official notification from "ICQ System".
*On December 9, 2008, another change to the ICQ servers occurred: clients sending Client IDs not matching ICQ 5.1 or higher stopped working.
*On December 29, 2008, the ICQ press service distributed a statement characterizing alternative clients as dangerous.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.cyberstyle.ru/newsline/4538-icq-qip-infium-jabber-miranda-mail.ru-agent-jimm-messenger-im-instant-messaging-aska-mgnovennye-soobseniy-klient.html|title= Официальное заявление ICQ: использовать QIP — опасно &#124; CyberStyle.ru|website= www.cyberstyle.ru}}</ref>
*On January 21, 2009, ICQ servers started blocking all unofficial clients in Russia and [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] countries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://profy.com/2009/01/21/aol-engaged-in-dubious-competition-practices-for-icq-in-russia/ |title=AOL Engaged in Dubious Competition Practices for ICQ in Russia |access-date=2009-02-04 |archive-date=2009-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124231815/http://profy.com/2009/01/21/aol-engaged-in-dubious-competition-practices-for-icq-in-russia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Users in Russia and Ukraine received a message from UIN 1:
<blockquote>
"Системное сообщение<br/>
:ICQ не поддерживает используемую вами версию. Скачайте бесплатную авторизованную версию ICQ с официального web-сайта ICQ.
System Message
:The version you are using is not supported by ICQ. Download a free authorized ICQ version from ICQ's official website."
</blockquote>
On icq.com there was an "important message" for Russian-speaking ICQ users: "ICQ осуществляет поддержку только авторизированных версий программ: ICQ Lite и ICQ 6.5." ("ICQ supports only authorized versions of programs: ICQ Lite and ICQ 6.5.")
*On February 3, 2009, the events of January 21 were repeated.
*On December 27, 2018, ICQ announced it was to stop supporting unofficial clients, affecting many users who prefer a compact size using [[Miranda NG]] and other clients.
*On December 28, 2018, ICQ stopped working on some unofficial clients.
*In late March, 2019, ICQ stopped working on the [[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]] client, as initiated in December 2018.

===Cooperation with Russian intelligence services===
According to a ''[[Novaya Gazeta]]'' article published in May 2018, Russian intelligence agencies had access to online reading of ICQ users' correspondence during crime investigations. The article examined 34 sentences of Russian courts, during the investigation of which the evidence of the defendants' guilt was obtained by reading correspondence on a PC or mobile devices. In six of the fourteen cases in which ICQ was involved, the capturing of information occurred before the seizure of the device. Because the rival service [[Telegram (software)|Telegram]] blocks all access for the agencies, the Advisor of the Russian President, [[German Klimenko]], recommended to use ICQ instead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/05/17/76500-aska-i-tovarisch-mayor|title="Аська" и товарищ майор|website=Новая газета}}</ref>

=== Child pornography ===
In 2023, an investigation by Brazilian news outlet ''Núcleo Jornalismo'' found that ICQ was used to freely share [[child pornography]] due to lax moderation policies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-22 |title=No Facebook, links com pornografia infantil circulam livremente |trans-title=On Facebook, links containing child pornography are shared freely |url=https://nucleo.jor.br/especiais/2023-06-22-grupos-publicos-de-pornografia-infantil-sao-compartilhados-no-facebook/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=Núcleo Jornalismo |language=pt-br}}</ref>