Telegram Messenger – With this app Selenski reports from the war

– With this app Selenski reports from the war

Russian Telegram app is popular in Ukraine. However, it is considered to be rather insecure and a gathering place for all sorts of groups.

– Published: 03/16/2022, 21:36—

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When Volodymyr Zelensky reports from war-ravaged Kyiv, he often does so via Telegram. 1.5 million people have subscribed to the Ukrainian President’s channel. Telegram is very popular in Ukraine. This is how families and friends communicate. News is being spread about it. And this is how the national resistance is organized.

And this despite the fact that the app was originally developed in Russia. The founder and managing director is Pawel Durow. The entrepreneur has now publicly commented on the war – of course on Telegram: “My maternal family comes from Kyiv,” he writes on his channel. To this day he has many relatives in Ukraine. “For this reason, this tragic conflict is also a personal matter for me.”

Split relationship with Russia

The company Telegram also commented on the conflict. The multinational team included many members from Ukraine, according to a statement. “We all want an immediate end to the conflict.” It’s comforting to see that Telegram can help people get quick access to information — some vital ones like airstrike warnings. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this war.”

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has a split relationship with Russia. In his message, he refers to a key experience from 2013. At that time he ran the social network VK, which he founded, a Facebook clone that is still popular in Russia today. At the time, the Russian secret service asked for the private data of Ukrainian users who had taken part in demonstrations. “I refused to comply with these demands as it would be a betrayal of our Ukrainian users,” writes Durov.

Then he had to go. “I lost my company and my home. But I would do it again – without hesitation.” Since then he no longer lives in Russia. He no longer owns a company there and has no employees.

Telegram is often used to send short messages – similar to Whatsapp, Signal and Threema. Group chats are also possible. The service also makes it easy to open channels that other users can subscribe to – similar to a social network.

It is precisely because of this flexibility that protest movements like to use Telegram. In addition, the company vehemently defends freedom of expression, which is important for dissidents in authoritarian regimes, for example. And consequently: For a long time, Telegram did not feel compelled to intervene when fool catchers, rip-offs and scammers spread. And not even when inhuman videos were published, when agitation and violence were called for. Because of this liberal attitude, Telegram became a gathering place for all sorts of groups, from Corona measures critics to hackers to violent subversives.

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«Our users’ right to privacy is sacred to me. Now more than ever.”

Pavel Durov, Telegram founder

So far, if an authority has made representations, Telegram has studiously ignored them. If there was a request at all. Because where the leaders and developers of the service are located is difficult to find out. After apparently having been to Berlin and London, among other places, they now give an address in Dubai.

The operators play a game of hide and seek with the authorities. Only after numerous attempts did Germany manage to have individual channels blocked last year. However, the lock only worked if access was from Germany. And if a smartphone was used for this. The Telegram makers do not seem to fear the arm of the law.

Lots of security flaws

At Telegram, however, nobody should be under the impression that they are in a false sense of security. Neither do the Ukrainians. Telegram has had the reputation of being a secure service since the messenger had a function for encrypting communication built in early on. Unlike competing products such as Whatsapp, Signal or Threema, this has to be activated individually for each chat. That’s why hardly anyone communicates securely.

Telegram also stores the unencrypted communication in the cloud. Even draft messages are saved on the fly, as well as metadata about who is communicating with whom. The messages could theoretically be read or intercepted there. In order to be able to use the service, one must also register with a mobile phone number. The program code of the app is freely available. The code that runs on the server, however, remains the secret of the Telegram makers. Many IT security experts are critical of the app for these reasons.

Pavel Durov tries to refute such reservations in his channel. For example, by protesting that he does not want to bow to anyone. “I stand up for our users, no matter what. Your right to privacy is sacred to me. Now more than ever.”

Mathias Born is an editor and data journalist in the business department. He has been working as a journalist since 2000. Mathias Born has a degree in media studies and a degree in data journalism.

More info@thisss—Published: 03/16/2022, 21:36

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