Russians are very advanced when it comes to the internet.
I do not doubt that for marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ comunity, who have to watch every step they do. But given the restrictions placed on everyday online services in Russia I’d assume the average citizen has harder time.
Doesn’t mean anything. Especially for groups who just want to communicate.
A subset of society that’s marginalized at best and killed at the worst doesn’t care about who can read and influence their communication? That seems highly shortsighted to me.
There is not enough evidence to support the probability of telegram making steps to make finding gay people easier for Russian authorities.
That we know of. Given that the company behind Telegram has been involved in various sketchy situations I wouldn’t bet my wellbeing on a service that might or might not share information with a corrupt government…
Average Russian knows more about VPN than most others because of tons of restrictions. And telegram only helps with that by providing workaround and info about proxies.
doesn’t care about who can read and influence their communication
Groups chats are private by default, you have to change that by yourself to make it public. There is no evidence that anyone else would be able to read it whatsoever while it’s private. The only danger comes from actual members who may invite unwanted people or share screenshots of the conversation.
the company behind Telegram has been involved in various sketchy situations
That’s the only thing you have. Any other company that could provide a service with similar features would have to be involved in very similar sketchy situations and there is no way around that. Signal doesn’t care about public communication features which puts it into a whole different weight category. Also signal would hardly care to help Russians restore access if it gets blocked.
You must be in Russia. I am basing this on your writing style. Although your English is good, you seem Russian.
Telegram isn’t always private, but it does allow people to blend in with other users. There are other more private Apps, like SimpleXChat, but with fewer connections to a SimpleXChat server LGBT people could be afraid they would stand out if they all started using it.
It’s not a matter of finding a more private app. It’s about keeping a group and have an opportunity to expand it, reach more people who would need to be a part of it. Any app in Russia that is not telegram would be too obscure for that. For now it’s a perfect balance between privacy and reach.
A subset of society that’s marginalized at best and killed at the worst doesn’t care about who can read and influence their communication? That seems highly shortsighted to me.
That we know of. Given that the company behind Telegram has been involved in various sketchy situations I wouldn’t bet my wellbeing on a service that might or might not share information with a corrupt government…
Share informarion with Putin? No, very unlikely. Ban opposition channels during elections? Confirmed yes.
Apple banned opposition’s apps durung elections too. And Google.
I do not doubt that for marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ comunity, who have to watch every step they do. But given the restrictions placed on everyday online services in Russia I’d assume the average citizen has harder time.
A subset of society that’s marginalized at best and killed at the worst doesn’t care about who can read and influence their communication? That seems highly shortsighted to me.
That we know of. Given that the company behind Telegram has been involved in various sketchy situations I wouldn’t bet my wellbeing on a service that might or might not share information with a corrupt government…
Average Russian knows more about VPN than most others because of tons of restrictions. And telegram only helps with that by providing workaround and info about proxies.
Groups chats are private by default, you have to change that by yourself to make it public. There is no evidence that anyone else would be able to read it whatsoever while it’s private. The only danger comes from actual members who may invite unwanted people or share screenshots of the conversation.
That’s the only thing you have. Any other company that could provide a service with similar features would have to be involved in very similar sketchy situations and there is no way around that. Signal doesn’t care about public communication features which puts it into a whole different weight category. Also signal would hardly care to help Russians restore access if it gets blocked.
Not surprising. You’re clearly not Russian.
You must be in Russia. I am basing this on your writing style. Although your English is good, you seem Russian.
Telegram isn’t always private, but it does allow people to blend in with other users. There are other more private Apps, like SimpleXChat, but with fewer connections to a SimpleXChat server LGBT people could be afraid they would stand out if they all started using it.
It’s not a matter of finding a more private app. It’s about keeping a group and have an opportunity to expand it, reach more people who would need to be a part of it. Any app in Russia that is not telegram would be too obscure for that. For now it’s a perfect balance between privacy and reach.
Share informarion with Putin? No, very unlikely. Ban opposition channels during elections? Confirmed yes.
Apple banned opposition’s apps durung elections too. And Google.