Rights defenders urged Durov to make Telegram stars anonymous. Russians are being prosecuted because of them

Rights defenders urged Durov to make Telegram stars anonymous. Russians are being prosecuted because of them

The human rights project “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” addressed an open letter to Telegram founder Pavel Durov. The authors of the letter urged him to make paid reactions under posts in the messenger anonymous because of the criminal prosecution of Russian users.

The rights defenders believe that paid reactions and the way Telegram Stars, the messenger’s internal currency, works are “a critical vulnerability in Telegram’s privacy architecture.” This vulnerability leads to “unfounded politically motivated prosecution of Russian users of the platform on grave charges of ‘financing terrorism.’”

Right now in Russia, a law enforcement practice is taking shape in which sending paid reactions to posts even in nonpolitical, news, or personal channels is classified by investigators as transferring funds in favor of formations banned in Russia that are part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

@meduzalive