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In recent weeks, the Telegram messaging application has become a major source of information and communication in Ukraine. Citizens are increasingly turning away from information through traditional channels, such as radio and television, due to the ongoing attacks on infrastructure, but also in Russia, news of the war broadcast in the national media is filtered by censorship and government propaganda.
The platform, already prevalent in pre-war Eastern Europe, continues to have major problems with disinformation and is not the safest messaging app that can be used by those who organize resistance to an invasion, nor by those who oppose an authoritarian government.
Telegram was founded by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai in 2013 and although it is considered primarily a messaging application that competes with WhatsApp or Signal, it offers some features reminiscent of a real social network.
The telegram is particularly characterized by its group conversations, which can register up to 200,000 members.
Thanks to this feature and the fact that the company tends to moderate content within the platform as little as possible, systematically refusing to cooperate with governments seeking information about its users, Telegram over the years has become a benchmark for activists, protest movements and more or less organizations. clandestine of all kinds, from protesters for democracy in Hong Kong, to white supremacists, to movements against the Covid vaccine, opposition movements in Iran and Belarus.
The platform is used by over 550 million people worldwide and even before the war it was the most popular messaging app in Ukraine, downloaded by about 70% of the population. With the outbreak of war, Telegram is also playing a central role as a source of news for Russian and Ukrainian users, who do not have access to other media, due to the destruction of infrastructure but also due to propaganda and fake news.
Some members of the Ukrainian government are also using the app wisely, starting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had already conducted part of his 2019 election campaign on Telegram and is followed by over 1.5 million people.
On his official channel, Zelensky publishes daily videos and information on the war, but also practical advice to guard against bomb blasts, including messages and calls to citizens to continue their resistance against the Russian occupation.
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