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Why has the founder of Telegram been arrested?

And what this says about free speech, and even the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Pavel Durov鈥檚 arrest could impact free speech, and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Over the last few years the social media and messaging app Telegram has become increasingly popular. It鈥檚 different from other apps, like WhatsApp and Facebook, partly because it allows you to create massive groups, of up to 200,000 people. But the app has also faced criticism relating to disinformation, and the sharing of conspiracist, neo-Nazi, paedophilic, or terror-related content.

On Wednesday Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was placed under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into organised crime on the app. 成人论坛 tech reporter Graham Fraser tells us what we need to know about Telegram, and this investigation.

Telegram has often been used by pro-democracy protesters, including in Hong Kong. The 成人论坛鈥檚 Fan Wang explains.

And there has been a massive reaction to Durov鈥檚 arrest in Russia. The 成人论坛鈥檚 Karine Mirumyan tells us why the Russian military, and government, use the app - and whether this arrest could impact the war in Ukraine.

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Presenter: Alex Rhodes
Producers: Mora Morrison and Zofia Louise
Editor: Verity Wilde

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15 minutes

Last on

Sat 31 Aug 2024 02:50GMT

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  • Fri 30 Aug 2024 17:50GMT
  • Sat 31 Aug 2024 02:50GMT

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