The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, first spoke with users of the messenger, answering their questions about various locks, the position of Telegram in Russia, and also about Shlepe the cat. Durov's Chat Russia comments appeared under one of his posts on Telegram.
About “Smart Voting” and “Male State”
In particular, users asked the founder of the messenger why Telegram, blocking channels that, according to the Russian authorities, violate the law, refuses to block the public of the radical movement “Male State”. “We have analyzed this channel, there is no unambiguous legal assessment on it yet,” Durov said in response.
In addition, he continued, unlike the situation with the bot of the Anti-Corruption Fund project (the organization is recognized as extremist in Russia and banned) “Smart Voting”, which sent voting recommendations to users before the elections, Telegram is not threatened with blocking due to the “Male State “.
According to Durov, Telegram stopped the Smart Voting bot mainly due to the fact that Apple and Google approached the messenger team “with a demand to remove publicly available information in accordance with the laws of individual countries.” Otherwise, they threatened, Telegram could be excluded from the Google Play and App Store app catalogs.
For the rest, the founder of the messenger assured: “The opposition channels in Telegram have never been blocked and work perfectly, despite the fact that the Russian courts write us fines for this.” “But yes, if Apple and Google decide that they should be blocked on iOS and Android devices, they will be immediately blocked,” Durov added.
The Men's State is a radical movement founded in 2016 by Vladislav Pozdnyakov. The members of this association declare the ideas of patriarchy and nationalism. For the last time, representatives of the Tanuki restaurant chain demanded to block the “Male State” channel in Telegram. This happened after Pozdnyakov criticized “Tanuki” for advertising with the participation of a black man, urged the network to remove advertising publications and apologize for them to the “Russian nation”.
About the future of Telegram
Durov admitted that now the Russian authorities have the opportunity to “crush” Telegram, which they failed to do a couple of years ago, when the messenger was officially blocked in the country. “This is the problem,” noted Durov. When asked if he was afraid that the messenger would still not be able to work quietly in Russia, despite the concessions, Durov said: “Ultimately, we will all die. Does this mean that it is worth ending life now? “
About personal
Also, users asked Durov several personal questions, for example, does he consider himself a happy person (“Yes”, – answered the founder of the messenger), what he likes to play more: PlayStation or Xbox (“PS”, – Durov answered), and how does he feel to “the big Russian cat Shlepe” (“I don’t know”, the businessman said). This animal gained popularity thanks to a series of Internet memes. Shlepa's cat is actually a caracal. “Pavel, you are being misled! Shlepa's cat is a Ukrainian cat. Born in Kiev, at the age of four months he was taken to Moscow, ”one of the users explained to Durov. “I recognize the right of Ukraine to this cat,” Durov replied.
