Russia Targets Telegram as Rift With Founder Pavel Durov Deepens (ft.com) 25
Russia has opened an investigation into Telegram founder Pavel Durov for "abetting terrorist activities," [non-paywalled source] in the latest sign that his uneasy relationship with the Kremlin has broken down. From a report: Two Russian newspapers, including the state-run Rossiiskaya Gazeta and Kremlin-friendly tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, alleged on Tuesday that the messaging app had become a tool of western and Ukrainian intelligence services.
The articles, credited to materials from Russia's FSB security service, accused Telegram of enabling attacks in Russia and said that Durov's "actions ... are under criminal investigation." Russia has restricted Telegram's functions, accusing it of flouting the law and is seeking to divert users towards Max, a state-run rival messenger. The steps escalate pressure on a platform that remains deeply embedded in Russian public life.
The articles, credited to materials from Russia's FSB security service, accused Telegram of enabling attacks in Russia and said that Durov's "actions ... are under criminal investigation." Russia has restricted Telegram's functions, accusing it of flouting the law and is seeking to divert users towards Max, a state-run rival messenger. The steps escalate pressure on a platform that remains deeply embedded in Russian public life.
Windows n yachts (Score:3)
Better stay away from open windows and yachts there for a while, Pavel.
Still, hilarious that of all messengers telegram is suddenly the bad guy for RuSSia. It is very obviously full of RuSSian propaganda machinery - like all social media and messengers - but telegram is definitely peak KGB-FSB.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Windows n yachts (Score:5, Informative)
They had a problem with him for a better part of a decade. That's why he lived in Middle East for a long time. He's basically exiled outside short, curated visits for specific dealings with pre-approved people because he stood up to Russian attempts at censoring VK and Telegram back in 2010s.
They forced him to "sell" VK to the government affiliated parties, after which he fled and kept Telegram. He's basically a post-Soviet tech bro (far less trusting of government overreach than Western tech bros). Problem is of course he's not trusting of all governments, which is why French grabbed him and are still holding him under house arrest to ensure that their superlegal backdoors remain in place.
Because he told everyone to fuck off. It's why Telegram remains so hilariously popular in nations where government suppresses peoples but hasn't gone all the way to blocking. I.e. the first one to get turned off in places like Iran through government blocking was Telegram, because the likes of Whatsapp have limited cooperation with government when it comes to things like "hate speech" which governments like Iran use to unmask and kill dissidents.
The reason why we see so many bots screaming about how he's evil, he's been got, etc, is because he's the wild card tech bro with a massive chip on his shoulder for government overreach, and who's far less amiable to both soft and hard coercion than likes of Zuckerberg and Musk have demonstrated themselves to be.
Re: (Score:2)
Yea, if the dude were still in Russia at this point then it would be time to.....I don't know.....be getting the fuck out.
Re: (Score:2)
It is the same guy who back in the day agitated for staying in russia because of freedoms.
Re: Windows n yachts (Score:2)
And polonium tea and poison dart frogs. Man, it must be really difficult to live in Russia without having a bizarre "accident".
Re: (Score:3)
Polonium tea and other forms of chemical terrorism like novichok are not limited to attacking people in just Russia. Oligarchs have also had strange accidents and unexpected heart attacks in other countries too.
Speech with minimal moderation (Score:2)
Russia’s latest smear on Pavel Durov and Telegram is unfortunate, but predictable. Telegram is the real free speech winner, and has quietly become the ultimate Reddit replacement, packed with the freshest uncensored takes on politics, borders, elections, and culture that Big Tech’s corporate overlords have scrubbed from every other site. No algorithms throttling wrongthink, no power mods nuking voices, just individual channels and groups free from breathing down-your-neck moderation. There
Re: (Score:2)
Finding a secret space full other like-minded people sounds exactly like an echo chamber. Sometimes there is just an incredibly small percentage of people that have certain opinions, but when put together from all of the world, the numbers and lack of alternative voices can give the false impression of normalcy.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Problem is that once you force moderation, then comes the question of who gets to do the moderating? Either way, what starts off as a pretty open platform ends up being an echo-chamber over time, after the "moderation" has scared/driven off one side. If people want moderated portals, they can go to Facebook, X, BlueSky, Gettr,.... and the raison d'être for Telegram would no longer exist
"the real free speech winner" (Score:2)
The problem with minimal moderation is that it becomes a powerful magnet for the sorts of people who get silenced on moderated platforms: bigots of all sorts (including literal flag-waving nazis), scammers of all sorts, edgelordy teenagers, etc.
I've watched couple of Telegram channels grow to be fairly popular, then attract vermin, and then either stop allowing comments entirely or just turn into cesspools.
It's the classic nazi-bar problem: if you aren't strict about kicking the nazis out, it doesn't take l
It's interesting (Score:3)
how communists, dictators, and presidents are all starting to sound the same. Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good and Pavel Durov accused of abetting terrorists.
Re:It's interesting (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Isn't this the same guy who was held by police in France for refusing to censor his social media app?
Now, this might strike some viewers as harsh, (Score:2)
Max not secure enough. (Score:2)
Last i heard, the Russian government had backpedaled on Telegram on the Ukrainian front. Admitting it was necessary for military operations.
The Russian government tries to impose their own platform, Max. But the military forbids its usage, considering it not secure enough. With the loss of starlink, the loss of telegram add to the disorgarnisation of the Russian army explaining why it is busy retreating right now.
Some commentators speculate that this crackdown is the prelude to another mobilisation, eventua
Russian sanctions? (Score:1)
In view of all of the sanctions against Russia, how is it that Telegram is still offering their services there anyway?
It would probably be a good idea to shut it down in that area.
I don't understand why it took Starlink so long to shut their service down for Russians either.
I was under the impression that it was illegal to provide services to Russia.
Server Side code review (Score:2)
Who would trust Telegram for any communication if you cannot review their server side code? Nobody should be trusting encryption that is not on by default and might have other means of collecting metadata or actual data on the end use via the server.