Why Telegram is Safe for Users in Ukraine
TelegramЦей текст також доступний українською.
Kyiv Independent published an article by Yaroslav Azhnyuk who doubted Telegram's privacy and security because he was misled by rumors. Below is an explanation of why these rumors are unfounded.
1. Misleading Wired article, corrected
The majority of Mr. Azhnyuk’s misconceptions are based on an article by a freelance journalist which was initially published with more than 50 errors — as a result of disregarding explanations provided by Telegram and independent experts.
Contrary to fears expressed by Mr. Azhnuyk, Telegram has never shared any data with the FSB or any other authorities in Russia.
Wired has recently changed the text to correct many of the mistakes, but some still remain. See this page for the full details.
2. No connection to Russia
Mr. Azhnyuk erroneously calls Telegram founder Pavel Durov a “Russian entrepreneur”. In fact, Pavel Durov faced persecution in Russia for protecting Ukrainian users’ right to free speech and privacy and was forced into exile. Pavel now lives in Dubai with dual French and Emirati citizenship. Telegram has no equipment, employees or companies in Russia.
Pavel Durov spoke about his Ukrainian roots and the importance of protecting all user data, whether Ukrainian, Russian or otherwise: "Their right to privacy is sacred. Now – more than ever."
3. No agreements with Russia
Contrary to rumors about "an agreement to fight terrorism and extremism", no deals were made to encourage Telegram's unblocking in Russia.
Russia spent two years trying to enforce a ban against Telegram for refusing to let the government access messages. Due to the anti-censorship tech built into Telegram apps, the ban was ineffective and Russians were able to continue using Telegram without disruption. After two years of trying and failing to block Telegram, Russia's newly-appointed Prime Minister overturned the previous government's ban order.
Since the app was already freely available, Telegram didn't need to "offer" anything in exchange for “un-banning” it. Pavel Durov merely supported the idea of unblocking the app in a public post, noting that Telegram moderators had become more efficient in combatting publicly available content such as child abuse or ISIS propaganda (not just in Russia but globally).
This was enough for the Russian government to officially "unblock" Telegram – which may have been a face-saving gesture to stop demonstrating the inefficiency of the government's censorship tools.
4. Telegram has a clear monetization strategy
Contrary to Mr. Azhnyuk’s misconceptions, Telegram has a public monetization strategy and raised bonds from global investors to support the app until it becomes sustainable.
Following the forced abandonment of the TON project, Telegram began monetization in 2021 by introducing privacy-conscious ads in channels — and continued with a Premium Subscription in 2022. The monetization results so far have exceeded expectations and Telegram is on a steady path towards financial sustainability.
To fund its monetization vision Telegram raised $1.7 billion in a bond sale, with the global investment bank JP Morgan as its main bank partner. Investors from Russia did not play a significant role in the bond sale. As far as Telegram is aware, the vast majority of its bonds are currently held by major global funds based in the US and the UK.
At any rate, the rights of the bondholders are limited and bonds do not give the power to influence the company's values or strategy.
5. Telegram messages are encrypted
The article erroneously states that Telegram messages are “unencrypted”. Everything sent and stored on Telegram is encrypted. Dozens of researchers have used the open source app code and encryption protocols to prove the integrity and implementation of this encryption. Everything stored on Telegram's servers is encrypted and the encryption keys are never kept with the data they protect.
6. Telegram apps are transparent
Contrary to Mr. Azhnyuk’s implications, unlike closed-source apps such as TikTok, Telegram can’t be used to spy on you or influence other apps or data on your device.
Telegram supports reproducible builds which help prove that the apps which users download from app stores are built from the same source code that’s published. Thanks to this, any developer can check and confirm that Telegram apps do exactly what they were built for – and only that.
7. The “Smart Voting” bot is still active
Contrary to Mr. Azhnyuk’s claim, Navalny’s Telegram channel has never been blocked. Navalny’s “Smart voting” bot was suspended for two days during the 3-day vote in the Russian 2021 elections – following pressure from Apple and Google which earlier removed Navalny’s app from their stores. Millions of Russians have used the Telegram bot to choose their candidates.
The bot is still active and has been most recently used in the 2022 elections: https://t.me/smartvotebot
8. The “letter from Pavel Durov” is a fake
Mr. Azhnyuk mentions a “letter from Pavel Durov” published by Novaya Gazeta. This letter is fake and was fabricated as part of a slander campaign amid Pavel Durov's ousting from VKontakte.
9. Telegram never shared messages with third parties
Contrary to Mr. Azhnyuk’s claims, Telegram never shared any data of “German anti-vaccination activists”. Telegram also stores very limited or no data on users – in most cases, it can't even access any user data without specific entry points, as was the case with the Indian court decision about piracy in which no private data was ultimately shared.
To discourage terror groups from using Telegram, the Telegram Privacy Policy has a provision that it may share IP addresses and phone numbers of confirmed terror suspects if it receives the relevant court order from a democratic country as recognized by the Democracy Index.