‘Russians do everything via Telegram.’ Pavel Durov’s arrest upends Kremlin military comms.
‘Russians do everything via Telegram.’ Pavel Durov’s arrest upends Kremlin military comms.
Although Durov publicly distances himself from Moscow, his platform has become vital for Russian army coordination in Ukraine.
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested Saturday night by French authorities on allegations that his social media platform was being used for child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime. The move sparked debate over free speech worldwide from prominent anti-censorship figures including Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy. Jr. and Edward Snowden. However, "the immediate freakout came from Russia," reports Politico. "That's because Telegram is widely used by the Russian military for battlefield communications thanks to problems with rolling out its own secure comms system. It's also the primary vehicle for pro-war military bloggers and media -- as well as millions of ordinary Russians." From the report:
"They practically detained the head of communication of the Russian army," Russian military blogger channel Povernutie na Z Voine said in a Telegram statement. The blog site Dva Mayora said that Russian specialists are working on an alternative to Telegram, but that the Russian army's Main Communications Directorate has "not shown any real interest" in getting such a system to Russian troops. The site said Durov's arrest may actually speed up the development of an independent comms system. Alarmed Russian policymakers are calling for Durov's release.
"[Durov's] arrest may have political grounds and be a tool for gaining access to the personal information of Telegram users," the Deputy Speaker of the Russian Duma Vladislav Davankov said in a Telegram statement. "This cannot be allowed. If the French authorities refuse to release Pavel Durov from custody, I propose making every effort to move him to the UAE or the Russian Federation. With his consent, of course." Their worry is that Durov may hand over encryption keys to the French authorities, allowing access to the platform and any communications that users thought was encrypted.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the arrest of Durov was "in no way a political decision." The Russian embassy has demanded that it get access to Durov, but the Kremlin has so far not issued a statement on the arrest. "Before saying anything, we should wait for the situation to become clearer," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. However, officials and law enforcement agencies were instructed to clear all their communication from Telegram, the pro-Kremlin channel Baza reported. "Everyone who is used to using the platform for sensitive conversations/conversations should delete those conversations right now and not do it again," Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonyan said in a Telegram post. "Durov has been shut down to get the keys. And he's going to give them."
Edit: Not sure where the Slashdot summary got "Edward Snowden", but he's not mentioned in any of the links.
Damn lmao.
Imagine the US Military relying on WhatsApp for communication.
Orks are fucking stupid.
They’re not the only ones. Social media mind cancer has swept the world and will most likely destroy it.
Turns out people will do just about anything to avoid learning how computers work.
What does the US Military use?
This insanely complicated system that doesn't really have parallels in other messaging systems. Tons of different systems, dedicated hardware, etc. These systems are specifically designed for military use and do not have direct parallels with civilian messaging apps
Source: almost enlisted to do communications (out of desperation, I hate the military)
Snapchat
Private email servers.
Grindr.
MSN messenger
According to some national guardsmen I saw on the highway awhile ago, a smartphone ducktaped to a megaphone blaring caramelldansen.
Facebook Messenger
Haha yeah it would be absolute clownhood if US government employees with security clearances high up in the administration were using WhatsApp.
The move sparked debate over free speech worldwide from prominent anti-censorship figures including Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy. Jr. and Edward Snowden. However, “the immediate freakout came from Russia,”
I don't understand why they repeated themselves here?
Also Musk routinely stifles free speech on his platform.
That’s not true. Per citizens united, money is free speech. As there is only a limited amount of free speech to go around, he allocates it by net worth on the platform.
Seriously... Were Jill Stein and Tucker Carlson not available for comment?
Lmfao, the russian military is using telegram? That is insane. We use it for furry groups. Can't believe they'd trust it for life or death situations. Develop your own secure communication, morons, haha.
They tried, it was too hard.
Elon is a prominent censorship figure.
Why anyone would use telegram when there's copious better options is beyond me
What are those?
You mixed and matched a lot of different sources in your summary, and did a fair amount of editorializing, it was honestly pretty confusing. Ed Snowden, for example, isn’t mentioned in any of your links, but you tossed him in with RFK and Musk, which misrepresents his ideology pretty seriously.
I’d suggest keeping it simple, post one link and one summary of it if you feel the need. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but this post doesn’t feel right.
Ed Snowden, for example, isn’t mentioned in any of your links, but you tossed him in with RFK and Musk, which misrepresents his ideology pretty seriously.
Ed Snowden, the Ron Paul supporter Ed Snowden? The Ed Snowden who took hundreds of thousands of documents which he didn't release to journalists to Russia? The Ed Snowden who wanted the death penalty for whistleblowers before a black man became president? He's different from RFK and Musk?
CNN - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)
Information for CNN:
MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: Mostly Factual - United States of America
Wikipedia about this sourcePolitico Europe - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)
Information for Politico Europe:
MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - Germany
Wikipedia about this sourceMBFC claims CNN is Left-Center, when it is owned by conservative billionaire John Malone, one of the largest landlords in the world. Lemmy.World mods need to stop feeding flak organizations like MBFC. Corporate propaganda is harmful to democracy.