When Pavel Durov, a Russian tech entrepreneur who founded the Telegram messenger app, was arrested in Paris on Aug. 24 on accusations of allowing terrorism to blossom on his platform, Ukraine watched it closely. He was charged by a Paris court on Aug. 28. In Ukraine, the charges against Durov

In Ukraine, the charges against Durov reinvigorated the public debate about the security of Telegram. Some activists and officials have long sounded an alarm about the fact that while the country is surviving a full-scale invasion by Russia, its most popular messenger app and source of news is a platform founded and run by a Russian.

The popularity of Telegram in Ukraine skyrocketed after the start of the invasion in 2022 – particularly due to its anonymous channels that mass-spread information to subscribers while preserving full anonymity of the publisher.

Telegram channels have become the most popular source of news about the war in Ukraine, according to a poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Razumkov Center in late March.

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Moreover, while only 20% of Ukrainians used Telegram as a news source in 2021, this number surged to 72% in 2023, according to a USAID-Internews survey.

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    • sandbox@lemmy.worldEnglish
      132·
      4 months ago

      • this is a worldwide news sub. the bot is ridiculously US-centric. everything it considers left or centre is right wing at best.

      • it’s the pet project of literally one guy, based entirely on his opinions. he’s very clearly got biases, too: very pro-right wing, pro-israeli.

      • it has extremely ridiculous justifications for a lot of why the “left” publications are considered “mixed”, and right-wing publications don’t get the same treatment.

      It’s just totally useless garbage. It would be just as worthwhile as having a bot to automatically post my personal opinion of every news website beneath every post on this community.

    • breakfastmtnOPEnglish
      12·
      4 months ago

      It’s being brigaded by misinfo ghouls.

      MBFC are well-respected, including by their peers. There are lot of people spreading misinformation right now and you shouldn’t take them at their word. Every claim in the other reply to you is false. This source is non-US, rated center left, and is most certainly not “right wing at best.” Peer-reviewed research consistently finds that all bias/quality monitors agree with each other to a high degree. That study compared data from academics, journalists, and organizations (including MBFC). Quite a feat for “one guy’s opinion.” Their methodology is public and, contrary to what the misinfo peddlers might say, explains their ratings.