Telegram was founded in 2013 by two Russian brothers, Nikolai and Pavel Durov. In 2018, Russia banned Telegram although it reversed the prohibition two years later. 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. Sebi said data, emails and other documents are being retrieved from the seized devices and detailed investigation is in progress. As a result, the pandemic saw many newcomers to Telegram, including prominent anti-vaccine activists who used the app's hands-off approach to share false information on shots, a study from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue shows.
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