Telegram and TikTok: what is wrong with these platforms and why do we need to be careful when using them?

In recent years, Telegram has become one of the main platforms for the spread of Russian propaganda and disinformation – primarily due to the lack of censorship and weak content moderation. Although this service is popular mainly in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, it is also used in other countries. However, pro-Russian channels that broadcast narratives favorable to the Kremlin are waiting for foreigners in Telegram. Civil Network OPORA investigated pro-Russian Telegram channels that work for the Western audience and the connections between them.

Messaging service Telegram’s marketing strategy is to present itself as a platform for total freedom of speech in response to the moderation policies of other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Telegram professes to consider content moderation as a philosophical question of ethics and morale, as if any interference has the exclusive function of “disciplining” users. However, this philosophical issue has quite tangible consequences in practice. For example, the findings of an independent impact assessment of Facebook on human rights in Myanmar showed(opens in a new tab) that under-moderation of content in Myanmar language contributed(opens in a new tab) to the act of genocide against the Rohingya Muslims.

Last year in the third month of Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine,  Civil Network OPORA decided to carry out a survey of Ukrainian media space.

In view of the aforesaid, it is critically important to get an understanding of the specifics of media consumption habits assumed by different groups  of civil society of Ukraine. Indeed, any measures aimed at disseminating reliable news from official sources and counteracting disinformation will prove ineffective, if they are not implemented on the platforms actively used by civil society for media consumption purposes. Therefore, we take this opportunity to present the results of a research...

Whereas by February 2022, new pro-Russian channels had been appearing sporadically, such as several channels per month, after February 2022 they appeared almost daily, often more than one per day. In order to evaluate the content shared by the occupation Telegram resources, we randomly selected 100 channels and overviewed their content. It can be divided into the following thematic blocks.