📰 Russia has recorded the first case of a Russian citizen being detained for using ⭐️Telegram Stars.

⛓️ Ura.ru reports that the suspect is a 56-year-old resident of Tyumen. He allegedly donated to the administrators of criminal Telegram channels. The specific method of donation is not being disclosed, as there may be several ways to spend the stars for the administrators. The Investigative Committee for the Tyumen Region has opened a criminal case against the detainee under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. The man faces up to 15 years in prison.

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📰 German Klimenko suggested Telegram could be declared extremist and all forms of payment could be criminalized.

⛓️ This means that even if you buy Telegram Premium or Telegram Stars, you could get a prison sentence. The same thing will happen if you simply advertise on Telegram, invite people there, etc.

It's all very simple and banal. He wants Russians to switch to a national messenger.

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📰 Besides Russia, two other countries are simultaneously discussing restricting/blocking Telegram.

🇺🇦 Ukraine. A terrorist attack on February 22 occurred in Lviv. According to Mayor Sadovyi, a police officer was lured at the scene of the explosion with a false alarm claiming 15 civilians had been killed, some seriously injured. Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Vereshchuk stated that the messaging app is being used to recruit and coordinate terrorists. She argued that if this poses a security threat, the platform's capabilities should be restricted. Ukrainian Interior Minister Klymenko has stated that Telegram needs to be slowed down, but not blocked entirely.

🇵🇭 Philippines. Henry Aguda (Minister of Information and Communications) stated that the messaging app's reputation for promoting pornography, gambling, deepfakes, and financial fraud was cited as the reason for blocking it in the country. The ministry has encountered coordination issues with Telegram's management, which complicates the enforcement of local regulations. The Prime Minister stated that the department will contact representatives of other platforms to combat illegal activities.

📰 Telegram is testing background file sending on iPhones, @durovs_code found out! We've been needing this for years.

😃 However, it will only be supported on devices running iOS 26+. File sending status is supported in Dynamic Island.