In 2018, Russia banned Telegram although it reversed the prohibition two years later. A Russian Telegram channel with over 700,000 followers is spreading disinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine under the guise of providing "objective information" and fact-checking fake news. Its influence extends beyond the platform, with major Russian publications, government officials, and journalists citing the page's posts. Telegram was founded in 2013 by two Russian brothers, Nikolai and Pavel Durov. "He has kind of an old-school cyber-libertarian world view where technology is there to set you free," Maréchal said. Just days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Durov wrote that Telegram was "increasingly becoming a source of unverified information," and he worried about the app being used to "incite ethnic hatred."
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