Despite Telegram's origins, its approach to user privacy worries a lot of people. And so he and his brother and some other associates left Russia.ĪLLYN: They started Telegram as a way to communicate outside the Kremlin's orbit.
NATHALIE MARECHAL: And that set off kind of a battle royale for control of the platform that Durov eventually lost. Nathalie Marechal of the Washington advocacy group Ranking Digital Rights says Durov refused. But in 2018, Russia's intelligence agency tried to get Durov to turn over messages from pro-democracy activists. One of them is Pavel Durov, known as the Russian Mark Zuckerberg because, before Telegram, he founded one of the biggest social networks in Russia. We're trying to match logistics on this medicine.ĪLLYN: Telegram was founded in 2013 by two Russian brothers.
And it's where he started a Russian-language channel to help Ukrainian refugees find food, shelter and other essential services.ĪNDRY: There is a lot of medicine, which is being delivered to Ukraine from outside by generous donations. And I would say that most of them look for it on Telegram.ĪLLYN: He gets independent news on Telegram and keeps tabs on the Kremlin's official line. He asked that we not use his last name, fearing retaliation.ĪNDRY: There are several million Russians who can lift their head up from propaganda and try to look for other sources. I talked to Andry (ph), a Russian entrepreneur living in Brazil. KUSHNIKOV: Firsthand experiences, firsthand videos.ĪLLYN: In Russia, Telegram has become one of the few places residents can access independent news about the war. Kushnikov says they often counter Russian propaganda with. Many journalists, aid workers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself broadcast on Telegram channels. They can be set up by one person or a whole organization.
Even before it hits the news, you already see the videos in the Telegram channels.ĪLLYN: Telegram is a hugely popular messaging app in Russia and Ukraine.
Now in France, he opens Telegram to learn about the devastation of his home country.ĪRQUAN KUSHNIKOV: Bombing of the maternity ward in Mariupol. NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn takes a closer look at how the war put Telegram in the spotlight.īOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Arquan Kushnikov (ph) and his family fled Ukraine just days before the Russian invasion. But it has also set off a debate about just how secure the messaging service is. It's become a place to bear witness to the conflict and connect refugees to services. The app Telegram has proven critical to both sides of the war in Ukraine.
0 kommentar(er)
