The thirty-eight posts from pro-Kremlin channels garnered almost 60 million views and more than 4,450 forwards to other channels from Januuntil April 13, 2022. Nine posts were published by channels of Russia, and the remaining three posts were published by neutral or tabloid Telegram channels. The DFRLab reviewed the fifty most viewed Telegram posts across these channels and found that thirty-eight of them were published by pro-Kremlin channels pushing pro-government messages.

The final category also includes channels that post apolitical or tabloid content. We identified the number of subscribers for each channel, subscriber growth from January 1 until April 20, 2022, and the total reach of all posts published by these channels during that time period.Īfter analyzing the metrics of the top fifty Russian Telegram channels, the DFRLab analyzed each channel’s forty most recent posts prior to April 10, and divided them into three different categories: (1) “pro-Kremlin channels,” which amplify the Kremlin’s messages about the war in Ukraine and spread false information (2) “critical channels,” which provide trustworthy information about the war in Ukraine and try to critically assess information conveyed by the Kremlin and (3) “neutral channels,” which offer more straightforward, nonpartisan analysis of the news, in part by avoiding criticism or praise of the Kremlin as well as not amplifying their narratives about the war. The DFRLab used TGStat, which maintains a database of nearly 800,000 Telegram channels, to analyze the top fifty Russian channels in the tool’s News & Mass Media category.

Meanwhile, Tiburon Research surveyed 1,000 people between eighteen and forty-four years old in Russia and found that among those who have used social networks or messengers over the past month, 89 percent used Telegram, followed by VKontakte at 79 percent and Youtube at 73 percent. And while Telegram was the main communication platform in fifty-five regions of Russia at the end of 2021, this number has since increased to eight-two regions by the latter half of March 2022. Telegram also leads in terms of mobile traffic consumption: an average user in Russia reportedly consumes around 101 megabytes of traffic on Telegram per day. During the same period, WhatsApp’s share of mobile traffic decreased from 48 percent to 32 percent. Their analysis suggested that Telegram’s share of total traffic by messaging apps reached 63 percent in the first two weeks of March, up from 48 percent in the first two weeks of February. But the Kremlin is also actively trying to control its narratives about the war on Telegram and, as this DFRLab analysis shows, Russian pro-government actors have created a substantial disinformation ecosystem on the platform.Ī study conducted by Megafon, one of largest mobile phone operators in Russia found that Telegram’s popularity in Russia started to grow rapidly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February. Recently, inspired by the expanding interest in the platform globally, mainstream Western media outlets including the New York Times and the Guardian launched Telegram channels to deliver news about the war.

Telegram’s relatively weak content moderation policy enables the Kremlin and Russian pro-government actors to flood Telegram with false information about Russia’s war on Ukraine.Īs Telegram remains accessible in both Russia and Ukraine, it represents one of the few platforms on which people in Russia can get uncensored information about the situation in Ukraine. Russian pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have been increasing their subscriber base faster than neutral or critical channels that broadcast reliable information about the war.Īs Russia restricted access to Western social media networks and silenced independent media outlets in the country, Telegram has become the platform of choice for many Russians, leading to a significant growth in the number of Telegram users in the country. (Source: Reuters Connect/Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto)

Telegram logo displayed on a phone screen and with the Russian flag on another screen in the background.

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