Telegram is a free, encrypted instant messaging service cloud-based and provided by Telegram LLC, a Dubai-based limited liability company founded by entrepreneur Pavel Durov, a French-Russian citizen and current CEO of the company, who was arrested in Paris last nightjust got off his private jet at Le Bourget airport, following a warrant issued by the French justice system.
In particular, Durov, who also founded the Russian social network Vk, is accused of some irregularities in Telegram such as the lack of moderation and cooperation with law enforcement, as well as the presence of numerous tools, such as cryptocurrency exchange, which would make the platform complicit in illegal activities, from drug trafficking to fraud.
Telegram Features
Among the features of Telegram, which can be used without a phone number (although one is required for initial registration) and on multiple devices at the same timethere is the possibility of exchanging text messages between two users or between groups, making encrypted point-to-point voice and video calls, exchanging voice messages, video messages, photographs, videos, stickers and files of any type up to 2 GB. You can also schedule the time to send a message; set a self-destruct timer for messages that allows text to be automatically deleted once viewed by the recipient, as well as delete messages for the recipient, and edit the text after sending.
Secret Chats
However, while WhatsApp and Signal offer end-to-end encryption for all chats, Telegram guarantees end-to-end encryption only for secret chats. The system used is called MTProto and is a native technology, which many consider not as secure as Open Whisper Systems, used by Signal. With end-to-end, messages are not recoverable from the servers, they cannot be resent, nor can they be taken screenshots.
One of the most used propaganda tools by jihadists
The company’s stringent privacy policies and use of encrypted chats have made Telegram one of the most widely used propaganda tools by jihadists, so much so that in September 2015 Durov had to take action by announcing the blocking of 78 channels linked to ISIS. Due to the same privacy-respecting characteristics, Telegram is often used for sharing pornographic and pirated material (films, music, newspapers) and has over time become the preferred communication tool for conspiracy theorists, racist, misogynist and anti-Semitic movements spread across different parts of the world and far-right movements, among others, the Proud Boys, who took refuge there after the blocks on Facebook and Twitter following the assault on the Capitol. In this case too, the company confirmed that it had blocked “dozens” of neo-Nazi and white supremacist channels with tens of thousands of followers for inciting violence.
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