Again, in contrast to Facebook, Google and Twitter, Telegram's founder Pavel Durov runs his company in relative secrecy from Dubai. Such instructions could actually endanger people โ citizens receive air strike warnings via smartphone alerts. In a message on his Telegram channel recently recounting the episode, Durov wrote: "I lost my company and my home, but would do it again โ without hesitation." Telegram has become more interventionist over time, and has steadily increased its efforts to shut down these accounts. But this has also meant that the company has also engaged with lawmakers more generally, although it maintains that it doesnโt do so willingly. For instance, in September 2021, Telegram reportedly blocked a chat bot in support of (Putin critic) Alexei Navalny during Russiaโs most recent parliamentary elections. Pavel Durov was quoted at the time saying that the company was obliged to follow a โlegitimateโ law of the land. He added that as Apple and Google both follow the law, to violate it would give both platforms a reason to boot the messenger from its stores. "This time we received the coordinates of enemy vehicles marked 'V' in Kyiv region," it added.
from br