Andrey, a Russian entrepreneur living in Brazil who, fearing retaliation, asked that NPR not use his last name, said Telegram has become one of the few places Russians can access independent news about the war. The fake Zelenskiy account reached 20,000 followers on Telegram before it was shut down, a remedial action that experts say is all too rare. Perpetrators of such fraud use various marketing techniques to attract subscribers on their social media channels. He adds: "Telegram has become my primary news source." "He has kind of an old-school cyber-libertarian world view where technology is there to set you free," Maréchal said.
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