Tech billionaire Pavel Durov’s arrest in France has reignited debate in Russia over the Telegram messenger app’s role in the war in Ukraine. The last round of discussion surrounding the issue came as recently as July, when the State Duma passed a law allowing new punishments for soldiers who use “civilian” devices while deployed. After a wave of criticism from pro-war bloggers and state media “war correspondents” who feared the new policy would leave Russian troops with no reliable means of communication, the law was watered down. Now, the same groups are discussing whether the “keys to Telegram” are at risk of being handed over to the West, and whether the messenger could be blocked by the Russian authorities. According to these commentators, Telegram has become the main communication tool of the war, linking various military branches and hierarchy levels into a single management, intelligence sharing, and target engagement complex, though this is a gross exaggeration. Meduza explains what we know about how the Russian military actually uses Telegram, what other programs its uses for battlefield communication, and why it still hasn’t developed its own platform to replace the Dubai-based app.
Alright, let’s talk about the fact that freedom fighter Pavel Durov closed channels and bots of the Russian and Iranian opposition. You can’t do that and justify it by local laws of various dictatorships, and then allow child porn and other criminal activities while ignoring laws of democracies. He created himself an image of a good guy, but it’s all lie.
Alright, let’s talk about the fact that freedom fighter Pavel Durov closed channels and bots of the Russian and Iranian opposition. You can’t do that and justify it by local laws of various dictatorships, and then allow child porn and other criminal activities while ignoring laws of democracies. He created himself an image of a good guy, but it’s all lie.