About 70 percent of Ukraine’s population uses Telegram as their main source of news, but the government is worried that the app is being used as a method of disinformation and spying by Russia. They are trying to pivot to apps like Signal instead, but it is difficult to break the habit of such a majority of the country.
- granolabar ( @granolabar@kbin.melroy.org ) 35•2 months ago
Imagine entire country using coms software operated by the enemy.
Are these people idiots or just don’t care for national security?
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 25•2 months ago
Imagine entire country using coms software operated by the enemy.
Do I get it right that you know that
- Pavel Durov (the creator of Telegram) has left Russia after refusing to give government information on Ukrainians during 2014 protests (from his previous project - VK, also used by both people in Russia and Ukraine)
- Russian government’s most extensive blocking campaign/attempt was targeted at Telegram
- Telegram’s headquarters are in UAE
and still somehow make a conclusion that “it is operated by the enemy” (assuming that by enemy you mean Russian government)? I’d like to learn more about this logic :)
- poVoq ( @poVoq@slrpnk.net ) 19•2 months ago
There are some credible rumors that Durov had financial issues during the pandemic and went back to Russia to strike some sort of deal with the regime there, which would also explain why since then there have been no further attempts to block Telegram in Russia.
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 5•2 months ago
What gives those rumors credibility other than “Russia bad”?
If you have links to some sources with some facts - I’d very much like to read them
- Rose ( @Rose@lemmy.zip ) 8•2 months ago
Here.
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 5•2 months ago
Thanks, that was an interesting read :)
Of course it doesn’t prove anything (especially that Telegram sends any information about Ukrainians to Russian government!), but at least those allegations indeed have more credibility than the usual “Russia bad”. It also doesn’t say anything about Durov doing something because he had financial problems. And what it definitely doesn’t say is that “Telegram is operated by Russia”.
- granolabar ( @granolabar@kbin.melroy.org ) 1•2 months ago
Yeah next you are going to ask us to prove that signal shares meta data with nsa, other wise it doesn’t happen
🤡
- granolabar ( @granolabar@kbin.melroy.org ) 6•2 months ago
A girl can leave Russia but Russia never leaves the girl;)
How naive are you?
Even if everything you say can be assumed to be true, the risk from national security perspective is unacceptable during a time of war.
- interdimensionalmeme ( @interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ) 3•2 months ago
Of course they would do that. Nobody would use it if the server was in putin’s bedroom.
Unless it’s auditted and open source then you should assume its spyware.
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 4•2 months ago
Unless it’s auditted and open source then you should assume its spyware.
I do. I use Matrix and recommend it to all my friends.
“Telegram is spyware” was not the original thesis I replied to, it was about “operated by the enemy”.
- interdimensionalmeme ( @interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ) 2•2 months ago
All software not under my direct control and personnal audit is operated by the enemy until proven otherwise.
windows, voidtool everything, irfanview, wiztree, Lemmy.ml gmail.com reddit.com youtube.com, my bank’s website. All operated by the technocapital enemy.
I use nothing from russia but you better believe everything out of them is considered in the enemy camp.
- ReversalHatchery ( @ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org ) English1•1 month ago
voidtool everything
what? did they do something questionable?
- interdimensionalmeme ( @interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ) 2•1 month ago
No, it is great praise from me that I still use them. But I will purge all proprietary software and all uses of “someone else’s” computer from my life.
- Boomkop3 ( @Boomkop3@reddthat.com ) 3•2 months ago
Didn’t Pavel get arrested in France?
- Greg ( @Greg@discuss.tchncs.de ) English14•2 months ago
Are you suggesting that the global reliance on Microsoft by every government could potentially pose an issue?
- granolabar ( @granolabar@kbin.melroy.org ) 8•2 months ago
Indeed but my point here is that Ukraine is at war with Russia…
Ukraine is not at war with US. So risk is Microsoft being imbeciles… Russia literally wants Ukraine wiped out and yet the idiots unable to change an app on their phone because “network effects and habit”
Just wow
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 4•2 months ago
Russia literally wants Ukraine wiped out and yet the idiots unable to change an app on their phone because “network effects and habit”
The thing with Zelensky’s propaganda is that externally (with people familiar with the situation only from CNN (or whever you get your information from…)) it works an order of magnitude better than internally… :)
So “idiots” use Telegram because not only they see no threat in it (why would they?), but also because it helps to avoid the very real threat of “lawful mobilization actions” by the government.
- granolabar ( @granolabar@kbin.melroy.org ) 8•2 months ago
Russia larper spotted
Cheers!
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 8•2 months ago
Yeah, I hear this quite often :)
Every Ukrainian who doesnt want to die for Zelensky is a Russian, yeah yeah yeah heard that one more times than I can count.
Cheers :)
- naeap ( @naeap@sopuli.xyz ) 2•2 months ago
Zelensky’s Propaganda
Oh my…
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 2•2 months ago
I know, right? I was also shocked when I discovered that it’s not just the evil-evil Russia who does the propaganda thing! :)
- Petter1 ( @Petter1@lemm.ee ) 1•2 months ago
As if telegram was better than signal in avoiding state sniffing. Security by design is always better than security by trust.
- interdimensionalmeme ( @interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml ) 3•2 months ago
Obviously yes, it is catastrophic for security to use windows, macos, android, ios. Anyone trusting this software is a fool.
- Matt ( @DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml ) 12•1 month ago
The founder is a French citizen whose social media platform was taken over by the Russian state.
- S13Ni ( @S13Ni@lemmy.studio ) 8•2 months ago
Who has visited the country many times after his so called exodus.
- Bobr ( @bobr@lemmy.libertarianfellowship.org ) 9•2 months ago
but the government is worried that the app is being used as a method of disinformation
Yeah, disinformation…
People just share too many videos of
brutal kidnappings and beating of people in broad daylightlawful mobilization actions by conscription officers there.And what’s even worse, people warn each other about the places where such lawful mobilization actions are taking place today, so that others can avoid them.
Unthinkable, right?
- underwire212 ( @underwire212@lemm.ee ) 4•1 month ago
I mean yeah most likely
- dingdongitsabear ( @dingdongitsabear@lemmy.ml ) 4•1 month ago
whether telegram was setup as a honeypot or got taken over or somehow is still independent and free of nation-state influence is a) beyond the expertise of any and all participants ITT and b) besides the point.
the main point is telegram’s honcho when faced with the perfectly valid question (E2EE when?) throwing out one smoke screen after the other, shit noone asked or cared about and conflating unrelated crap to spread FUD - signal is CIA backed, whatsapp turns over metadata, all crypto is blown by NSA so we’re better off without, we can’t have encrypted channels (no1 axed for that), etc.
if he’s being cagey and lying about plainly evident things, what else is he untruthful about?
there are FOSS telegram clients out there and adding on E2EE is trivial (remember Pidgin and OTR over Google’s XMPP?). the fact that that’s explicitly against telegram’s TOS and that they’re adamant about leaving all your shit unencrypted “in the cloud” draws but one conclusion.