On Friday, no less than 143 individuals had been killed in an assault on a live performance corridor in Moscow. In line with the Russian state-controlled information company RIA, the attackers had been recruited in a Telegram channel belonging to ISIS-Ok, an Islamic State group affiliate, which emerged in late 2014 as a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban.
As much as 49 million individuals — 40 p.c of Russia’s web customers — used Telegram in 2023, which makes it the nation’s hottest platform.
Critics accuse Telegram of tolerating the unfold of conspiracy theories and hate speech, which frequently discover a house — and proliferate — on the app.
The platform’s founder Durov addressed the criticism in a weblog put up in October 2017, arguing that Telegram defends freedom of speech.
“Criticizing native authorities, difficult the established order and fascinating in political debate are OK,” Durov wrote. “In the meantime, selling violence and calling for actions that may hurt harmless individuals are not OK. This can be a rule of thumb we’re at all times making use of when moderating public channels.”
In a latest interview with the Monetary Occasions, Durov mentioned when requested about Putin and the Kremlin’s conflict on Ukraine: “Let’s not go there,” including that it’s “essential for the world to retain Telegram as a impartial platform.”
