- Title: Telegram users in Latvia talk about the pros and cons of the channel
- Date: 28th August 2024
- Summary: JAMNAGAR, GUJARAT, INDIA (AUGUST 28, 2024) (ANI - No use India) AERIAL VIEW OF INUNDATED AREA LOCALS WADING THROUGH FLOODED ROAD BUILDINGS SUBMERGED IN FLOODWATER VARIOUS OF LOCALS WADING THROUGH FLOODED ROAD VARIOUS OF BUILDINGS PARTIALLY SUBMERGED IN FLOODWATER VEHICLE SUBMERGED IN WATER LOCALS STANDING IN BALCONY OF SUBMERGED BUILDING OVERFLOWING WATER MAN WADING THROUG
- Embargoed: 11th September 2024 16:05
- Keywords: LATVIA RUSSIA SECURITY TELEGRAM UKRAINE
- Location: RIGA, LATVIA
- City: RIGA, LATVIA
- Country: Latvia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA005991328082024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russian-born Telegram boss Pavel Durov was being transferred on Wednesday (August 28) to see the French investigative judge who was due to decide whether to place him under formal investigation following his arrest as part of a probe into organised crime on the messaging app, a judicial source said.
In places like Latvia, which borders Russia and Belarus and has various communities of Russian-speaking exiles, the Telegram app with its encryption is widely popular as a safe tool for communication and trading sensitive news.
“I’m using Telegram and exactly because I think it’s safe” resident Vladimirs Andersons said on Wednesday on the Latvian capital Riga.
Equally, for Russian journalists in exile in Riga, Telegram is the main source of information and also publication, such as by the Riga-based Media Hub, which since the beginning of the Ukraine war has provided assistance to more than 500 media workers from Ukraine, Belarus, but mainly from Russia.
One of their journalists, Ivan Makridin of the online magazine “The New Tab” says he uses Telegram on a daily basis, saying it provides freedom of speech for everyone - including Russian opposition.
“The Vast majority of people know about us because of telegram” he says.
But the detention of Telegram boss Durov has put the spotlight on the criminal liability of app providers and fuelled debate on where freedom of speech ends and enforcement of the law begins.
The Latvian Digital Security Expert and Founder of the Digital Security Center Elviss Strazdins is at the heart of this debate. He investigates online scams and use Telegram to contact scammers and investigate their actions.
Strazdins says he has witnessed a lot illegal activities within Telegram app which were left unrestricted. And that, he says, is one of the reasons which makes Telegram popular.
Latvia’s State Security Service annual report last year said that due to the lack of content control, Telegram has become “one of the most frequently used communication tools for carrying out criminal activity, including recruiting persons, organising espionage and obtaining intelligence.”
Latvia has even proven cases of drug trafficking and distribution using Telegram as a tool.
Himself, digital security expert Strazdins says for privacy and safety he would choose more secure apps than Telegram. “We know what algorithms are used to encrypt them, but we don't know if the owners of Telegram don't have the keys themselves”, he says.
(Production: Janis Laizans, Hedy Beloucif) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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