'Declaring war on YouTube' - But experts highlighted a risk to Telegram and its users due to a lack of default, end-to-end encryption that potentially leaves the company susceptible to government pressure to turn over information.Īlp Toker, director of web monitoring group NetBlocks, noted WhatsApp has put in place firestops that offer insulation against that sort of pressure. Telegram has become an essential exchange for news on the war, with its growth accelerating after the Kremlin's latest crackdown on independent media and the lock-out of apps like Facebook and Instagram.Īn average of 2.5 million new users joined Telegram daily in the last three weeks, the firm said, about a 25 percent jump from the weeks prior. Russia still operates accounts on platforms like Facebook, despite blocking the service at home, but this week the Silicon Valley giant took down posts from Moscow's pages that contained misinformation about its deadly offensive. Telegram, criticized as having a lax content policing policy, offers a forum for Russian authorities to promote narratives friendly to their internationally condemned war. 'I think it's unlikely Russia will ban Telegram because they are so short on platforms where they can operate,' said Sergey Sanovich, a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, who noted that authorities in 2020 aborted efforts to block the service.

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