Meet The 'Russian Mark Zuckerberg' Whose Social Media Platform Is Now At The Heart Of The Ukraine Conflict

Two years ago, Telegram founder Pavel Durov stood up to Russia. Today, his app lies at the heart of the (mis)information battle between Russia and Ukraine.

It's been 15 days since Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, during which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been forced to refute claims he instructed the military to lay down their arms, ordered an evacuation and he himself had left Kyiv. In order to communicate this, he used Telegram.

Founded in 2013 by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, the brothers behind Russia's Facebook equivalent VKontakte (VK), Telegram is a bit like WhatsApp, only it features open channels which allow people and other groups to communicate with large numbers like other mainstream social media.

It boasts more than 550 million monthly users across the world, easily ranking as Ukraine's most popular messaging app before it emerged as a key way to receive information from the government during the Russian conflict, for civilians and troops alike. It also allows users to send message to groups of up to 200,000, 780 times more than WhatsApp's limit.

In 2018, Durov refused to grant Russian authorities access to users' encrypted data. This came after he was reportedly ousted from VK for refusing to buckle under pressure to suppress pages criticising the Russian government, to the point he even left the country because it wasn't 'compatible with internet business at the moment'.

Durov didn't bow to pressure from the Kremlin, employing careful cyber-dodging tactics around Russia’s state telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, while Telegram's reach continued to explode. Russia banned Telegram as a result, although this was later lifted in 2020.

That's not to say Telegram is seen as a beloved bastion for freedom of speech. Its controversies have mounted up over the years, earning a reputation as the 'app of choice' for ISIS terrorists, as well as enabling communication between all sorts of groups, from anti-vaxxers to pro-Trump Capitol rioters.

Concerns have also been raised over Telegram's level of security, with end-to-end encryption not offered by default to all users across its messaging options. 'Telegram is the most popular messenger in urban Ukraine. After a decade of misleading marketing and press, most ppl there believe it’s an 'encrypted app',' Moxie Marlinspike, creator of the Signal secure messaging app, tweeted.

'The reality is the opposite-TG is by default a cloud database w/ a plaintext copy of every msg everyone has ever sent/recvd,' he added.

While a staunch pro-privacy platform, Durov has unwillingly been forced to interact with lawmakers over the shuttering of certain accounts; for example, Telegram blocked a chat bot in support of Alexei Navalny around Russia's recent parliamentary elections, with Durov saying he was following a 'legitimate' law, as per Engadget.

The dissemination of unverified footage, claims and other misinformation during Russia's invasion of Ukraine has also concerned Durov, to the point he's even considered blocking the service to the 'countries involved' until the conflict is resolved. 'We do not want Telegram to be used as a tool that exacerbates conflicts and incites ethnic hatred,' he said, as per The Guardian.

However, he quickly changed his mind following an outcry from Telegram's users, citing its importance amid uncertainty over the war. 'Double-check and do not take on faith the data that is published in Telegram channels during this difficult period,' he said in an update.

Also assuring Ukrainians over fears their data could be compromised, he said, 'I stand for our users no matter what. Their right to privacy is sacred - now more than ever.'

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information