The next bit isn’t clear, but Durov reportedly claimed that his resignation, dated March 21st, was an April Fools’ prank. TechCrunch implies that it was a matter of principle, but it’s hard to be clear on the wheres, whos and whys. Similarly, on April 17th, the Moscow Times quoted Durov as saying that he quit the company after being pressured to reveal account details about Ukrainians protesting the then-president Viktor Yanukovych. Such instructions could actually endanger people — citizens receive air strike warnings via smartphone alerts. False news often spreads via public groups, or chats, with potentially fatal effects. "He has kind of an old-school cyber-libertarian world view where technology is there to set you free," Maréchal said. 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.
from ms