The Telegram messenger app, which offers many useful secure communication features, is the preferred tool for political activists in repressive information contexts such as the Russian Federation and Belarus. The app is also popular with the general public who need safe access to independent sources of information, chats, and discussion channels.
However, Telegram has no built-in means of protecting its users when they are detained, searched, and in some cases, interrogated by authorities who often use torture to obtain passwords to access accounts.
To address this problem, the non-profit organization Fundacja Bialorus Liberty developed Partisan Telegram (PTG)—a modification of Telegram, adapted for the purpose of protecting the data of politically engaged users living under repressive regimes. PTG introduces a number of data protection features that work in various scenarios, including the automatic blocking of sensitive data from access by the authorities when a user gets detained.
OTF is supporting the development of additional safety features for PTG, including a tool to mask the app, voice alteration (protecting the identity of users communicating via phone calls, voice messages, and voice chats), and “secret groups” which enable more than two people to communicate via a secret chat with strong encryption.