Amid Social Media Restrictions, Russians Increasingly Rely on Telegram
Telegram, a messaging app (Pixabay).
Telegram, a messaging app launched in 2013 by brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, has played a critical role in providing Russians and Ukrainians with information about the ongoing conflict. Amid a lack of alternative social media platforms, Telegram has emerged as one of citizens’ most popular sources, per dissident Russian publication Meduza.
“On the Ukrainian side, my Telegram was full of train schedules for evacuation, like all sorts of updates, volunteer stuff, organizing, that is also there,” said Dr. Tanya Lokot, a Telegram researcher.
According to Meduza, Russia unsuccessfully tried to block Telegram in 2018. Although Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor attempted to shut down Telegram’s servers, the app simply kept switching to new servers in an impossible-to-win game of whack-a-mole.
However, the platform is not invincible. According to Sarkis Darbinyan, co-founder of the digital rights group Roskomsvoboda, “Telegram may be resilient, but if Roskomnadzor begins targeted blocking, pings will take a long time to travel, everything will start working poorly, and many users will experience connectivity problems.”
Telegram remains, however, one of few remaining social media outlets for Russians. According to the Moscow Times, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a series of restrictions on social media, including accusing Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook parent company Meta of “Russophobia” and blocking access to them. Roskomnadzor has also restricted access to Euronews’s website and to the BBC’s main news website.
According to Meduza, it is likely that YouTube will be banned next and possible that Russian authorities may even attempt to disconnect the country from the global internet altogether.
“I would say that right now, there is about a 50 percent chance of a “sovereign” internet being instituted, and if the situation deteriorates further, we are in for a “great shutdown” and being disconnected from the global network,” said Darbinyan.
