Telegram deleted its official Belarusian channel — likely to avoid compromising people. But many had already been compromised
Few will now remember that on August 15, 2020, the "Telegram Belarus" channel appeared. It was the messenger's official channel for the Belarusian audience, which grew explosively amid media and internet blockages. A test poll "Who did you vote for in the elections?" was conducted in the channel, exclusively for Belarusian users. Years later, the authorities remembered this.
That poll gathered 10.6 million views and 2.41 million votes.
Only users with Belarusian SIM cards could vote for specific candidates — Telegram was testing this mechanism for the first time then. For others, the option "I am not from Belarus" remained.
The result, as expected, was clear. Out of 1.64 million users from Belarus, 75% voted for Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and 6% for Alexander Lukashenka.
The next day, August 16, another post appeared on the channel. Pavel Durov announced that Apple was demanding the blocking of channels publishing data of security forces and propagandists, and put the question to a vote — whether to do so. 67% voted against the blocking.
After this, the channel went silent: no new messages appeared in it for six years.
However, years later, the repressive authorities found a use for this data. Similar to how the fact of subscribing for Viktar Babaryka, Valery Tsepkalo, or Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya became a reason for purges among officials, voting in this channel also became a reason for dismissals.
Although the poll was anonymous, it is visible on the user's own device for whom they voted, if they did not change accounts.
Thus, as "Nasha Niva" learned, throughout this year, HR-security officers in state organizations received instructions to open the "Telegram Belarus" channel on an employee's mobile phone during checks (when a person was being hired or was about to be promoted).
If it turned out that the person had not changed accounts and participated in the voting, showing their vote for Tsikhanouskaya — dismissal.
How many such cases occurred across the country is unknown, but information about some of them has been confirmed.
It can be understood that this information also reached the platform itself. This inactive official channel was still accessible in May 2026 (at that time, it had 11.5 thousand subscribers). Now, however, it has ceased to exist.
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