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by Shank
667 days ago
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In 2022 and beyond, Durov has posted very publicly about Ukraine, inclduing support for Ukraine and reiterating parts of his history with the FSB at VK [0]. Telegram was also blocked in Russia for a period of time while they argued about compliance [1]. I think it is far more likely that Russia understands that Durov is one of the most influential people that acts as an emissary to their country. His past altercations around VK and subsequent compliance with various investigations in Russia probably mean they have at least a semi-amicable relationship now. The reality is that, for better or for worse, Telegram is widely used by a large number of people. In just the same way that US agencies can compel investigations with US companies, I'm sure that Russia exerts some amount of control on Telegram for investigation purposes. But this is what I would expect about any messaging platform that isn't fully E2EE. The fact of the matter is that Telegram's flagship product for many people is NOT the messaging system, it's the non-encrypted channels system, which has been used widely by various people to act as a social network. This system is valuable to investigate for a lot of people. Encrypted messaging aside, companies usually are compelled to do a minimum amount of compliance work with authorities for jurisdictions they operate in. [0]: https://t.me/durov/179 [1]: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/whats-... |
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Not in the same way, since Telegram (unlike, say, vKontakte), is NOT a Russian company.
(At least officially, also quite anti-Putin at its funding... less clearly now.)