After fleeing Russia, the brothers founded Telegram as a way to communicate outside the Kremlin's orbit. They now run it from Dubai, and Pavel Durov says it has more than 500 million monthly active users. "Like the bombing of the maternity ward in Mariupol," he said, "Even before it hits the news, you see the videos on the Telegram channels." For Oleksandra Tsekhanovska, head of the Hybrid Warfare Analytical Group at the Kyiv-based Ukraine Crisis Media Center, the effects are both near- and far-reaching. For example, WhatsApp restricted the number of times a user could forward something, and developed automated systems that detect and flag objectionable content. But because group chats and the channel features are not end-to-end encrypted, Galperin said user privacy is potentially under threat.
from ca
