Telegram – Harm Reduction for Users in Russia and Ukraine – (EFF Updated) | Hacker News Reader

Telegram – Harm Reduction for Users in Russia and Ukraine – (EFF Updated)

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6 pointsNews-Dog9 comments

OP: Telegram - FAQ

Edit: Telegram (software) From Wikipedia

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_app>

That FAQ is pretty laughable. "We care about privacy" but then implement their own privacy protection poorly and expose all their users to unwanted snooping. Privacy that isn't on by default, isn't privacy, it's privacy theater.

OP: Most Users probably want speed over security,

however when there is a large installed-base that have now become 'at-risk' all you can do is warn.

  >Telegram has a history of standing up to Russian government requests for data, but how comfortable you are relying on that history to predict future behavior [sic] is up to you...

And a history of caving in to EU demands to censor Russian news media. How ironic that Telegram stood up to 'Big Bad Vlad' but meekly rolled over when asked to by the Eurocrats. Its almost like virtue signaling tops deeply held convictions.

Caving in to russian authorities and unmasking users might mean long prison sentences or death if they so much call the 'special operation' a war or join any protests, hence concern.

What did telegram do to cave into eu demands?, and what are the consequences?

Telegram blocked access to channels such as rt.com for users in Europe [its blocked for me too in UK]. So much for freedom of speech [or thought]

> So much for freedom of speech [or thought]

Don't private companies have their own freedom of speech? also freedom to associate with whoever they want? (imagine if telegram feels strongly against the invasion, perhaps friends and relatives killed there)

I'm also curious why you want to consume media from an obvious propaganda source from a country where there is no freedom of speech or thought... Aren't you going against the values you mentioned above by supporting it?

I like to 'consume media' from a broad spectrum of sources. So I regularly read news on BBC, RT, Al Jazeera and Global Times... and occasionally others. I know they're ALL biased --yes, even the beloved 'free press' in the West. So I take ALL of their reporting with a pinch of salt. But I like to hear both sides of an argument, before forming my own opinions.

Give it a go. In between the obvious propaganda pieces, you night actually find some opinions and news stories on those other sites that are actually worth hearing about, but which are conspicuously absent from western reporting.

I've never understood why --if our western capitalist system is so superior to everything else and so strong-- we have to censor the opinions of and destroy the economies of countries which refuse to sing from our hymn sheet. If those alternative systems are so bad, why not let them fail on their own, rather than trying to beat then into submission?

As regards Telegram and the tired "their playground, their rules" argument. Yes. That's a totally reasonable attitude, whilst your playground is your own back garden. But, once you flng open the gates and invite the world in with promises of 'fun for everyone' then expect complaints when you start chaining up the swings or turning people away at the gates.

> Give it a go.

If in real life someone were to lie to me constantly, present obvious fake information most of the time I can spot them, I would cut them off.

Same thing here, there's no point in even reading their articles, I can reduce them to "lie-whatever-makes-russia-look-good".

> we have to censor the opinions

Look at Fox news, propaganda works, tell a lie enough times you will get people believing it. Best to cut that off and search/consume from objective sources. (There's no truth in the middle when someone will lie to such an extent to move middle in the same area)

Democracies are vulnerable to propaganda, Germany proved that a long time ago.

> destroy the economies of countries which refuse to sing from our hymn sheet.

This is done because Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia was warned and they chose to go ahead. Now their economy is destroyed in order for them not to be able to continue the invasion...

Your simplification here is horribly wrong and I'd be curious if you would detail why you think this. I'd assume it's from your consumption of RT painting a different picture of events, in which case you might want to reconsider your media consumption.

I'm also extremely saddened by what's going on there, the countless innocents killed or lives destroyed by russian invasion/bombing/etc... I'd advocate for stronger response to stop the war...

> But, once you fling open the gates and invite the world in with promises of 'fun for everyone' then expect complaints when you start chaining up the swings or turning people away at the gates.

I'm of the opinion that if you don't like something do it yourself better... All power to telegram to block whoever they want, all power to those blocked to build something else if they can.

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