In times of war, Russia closes in on itself and its networks are no exception to the rule. Facebook and Instagram (Meta) are now banned for “extremism”, TikTok is restricted, YouTube lives under high surveillance, as does VKontakte, the only platform that is anyway in the hands of the Kremlin. In fact, free exchanges on the Russian Internet have become more and more complicated, except to switch to the inaudible Clubhouse, or of course, for those who wisely relay the regime’s propaganda according to which the invasion of Ukraine will not is a “special operation” intended to “denazify” the country.
Two survivors, however: free messaging WhatsApp (also owned by Meta) and Telegram. If the first is by far the most used of the two applications, with more than 67 million users, it does not allow like the second to access distribution groups – a kind of large news feeds – sometimes bringing together millions of members. So, the refugees from Facebook and especially from Instagram (61% of Russians aged 16 to 64 are registered there), massively switch to Telegram. The application claims to record 2.5 million daily downloads since the start of Russian operations in Ukraine, although their nationality is not precisely known. Telegram, of Russian origin but based in Dubai, also claims 500 million users around the world, in strong progression.
The most used social networks in Russia
The Express
A very popular channel on the Russian side…
The Russian operator Megafon confirmed this shift on Monday, March 21, saying that the share of mobile data used for the application had increased by 63%. Aware of this new balance of power, the authorities have also adapted. It was through messaging that a local court communicated on Monday the banning of Meta’s social networks on its territory.
It is still on Telegram that the lower house of Parliament recently announced the forthcoming renewal of Elvira Nabioullina as head of the Central Bank. Pro-Russian propaganda is also going strong with the WarOnFakes account, which “verifies”, in its own way, Western information, such as the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, deemed “fake” for the simple reason that a Ukrainian influencer was hospitalized there.
But it is still there, on Telegram, that the resistance is organized. “I have to be honest and say that I am against the war with all my soul. (…) I never thought that I could be ashamed of Russia (…) but today I feel that there is a before and an after”, wrote the star ballerina of the Bolshoi, Olga Smirnova, before leaving the country a handful of days ago. Here, finally, that the few independent Russian media, like the Meduza site, the Novaya Gazeta, or the channel run by journalist Ilya Varlamov attempt to provide more nuanced information about the conflict. With some success, since Varlamov News, for example, currently has more than 1.3 million subscribers, almost as many as the RIA Novesti news agency (1.6), and has even taken the liberty of relaying without blurring the sign denouncing the war held up live on television, by Marina Ovsiannikova. All this without Russia being moved by it for the moment.
… like Ukrainian
Because on the Ukrainian side, Telegram, visible in the same way on both sides of the border, is also the subject of intense occupation. The authorities of Mariupol publish there for example images of the bombardments which have been raining on the city for several weeks now, as well as the human tolls which accompany them. It is also on Telegram that the former world boxing champion and mayor of kyiv Vitali Klitschko announced the implementation of the curfew in his city, this Monday, March 21. the Kyiv Independent delivers all its information in English on Telegram, as does the “Ukraine Now” group – more than a million followers alone – which updates its information almost every minute. Enough to ensure wide coverage of the invasion and possible Russian war crimes.
The news feed of the authorities of the city of Mariupol on Telegram
The Express
Symbol of this new information war hosted by Telegram, the media close to the Kremlin, RT and Sputnik, banned across Europe, tried to take refuge there, without success. On the other hand, several Western media, like the New York Times and washington posthave successfully opened dedicated channels to share their own information about this war in Ukraine.
Telegram is benefiting from a new impetus during this conflict, almost 10 years after its creation by the brothers Pavel and Nikolai Dourov, originally from Russia and founders of the Facebook clone very popular in the country of Vladimir Putin, VKontakte (since abandoned by its creators ). Pavel Durov, above all, is considered an opponent of Vladimir Putin. The man had also refused to provide the encryption keys for his application to the Russian authorities in the spring of 2018, causing his platform to be blocked for about two years in Russia, but which had proved ineffective for technical reasons. . The persistence of Telegram in the country therefore raises questions today, at a time when its moderation is impossible by the Kremlin, and when the Ukrainian and more broadly Western vision of the conflict opposes the statements of Vladimir Putin.
What about his safety?
In France, the application had been popularized by the political world, several years ago, eager to exchange on channels deemed independent and secure, thanks to the encryption of conversations, and more sadly – for the same reasons – by its use. Daesh terrorist group. This reputation for security is questionable, however. by competitors such as Signalbut also by other observers.
“Channels are not fully encrypted, end-to-end. All communications on a Telegram channel can be seen by anyone on the channel and are also viewable by Telegram. A government may instruct Telegram to deliver communications to from a channel. The application is used to responding to requests for data from the Russian government”, recalls the NGO Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which dedicates an article on its use in Ukraine and Russia, and the best practices to adopt for its security, and even the other applications to consider. “If Russians are concerned about linking their identity to a phone number, they should use an app that provides end-to-end encrypted chat capabilities, but doesn’t need a phone number to s ‘register, such as Wire or Threema,’ the organization continues.