With Facebook and Instagram being banned, Russians are increasingly turning to Telegram messaging app for mass messaging in a way similar to social media. According to AFP, Telegram app has been downloaded over 150 million times since the beginning of the year, with the official figure of half a billion active users dating back to January last year. An average of 2.5 million new users joined Telegram daily in the last three weeks, the firm said, about a 25 per cent jump from the weeks prior, the firm said. Even though Meta-owned WhatsApp has managed duck from the ban list, Telegram’s ability to disseminate information to large groups at a time has made it useful both for independent media and the Kremlin. The trust on Telegram also stems from the fact that its creators, brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, are Russian citizens who left their home country in 2014. Despite Telegram’s tendonous growth in Russia, concerns over its data security and misinformation still remain. Also read | Ukraine-Russia conflict: Time for meaningful talks, says President Zelensky “Telegram’s profile has grown enormously in recent weeks, and that has raised the stakes about the impact of misinformation on the platform”, Enders Analysis media…
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