Individual messages can be fully encrypted. But the user has to turn on that function. It's not automatic, as it is on Signal and WhatsApp. Although some channels have been removed, the curation process is considered opaque and insufficient by analysts. In 2018, Russia banned Telegram although it reversed the prohibition two years later. Some privacy experts say Telegram is not secure enough "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."
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