> In any case, it is now vital information infrastructure in ways YouTube isn't.
Potentially, but then there is still the risk of what the government knows. Russian citizens living in the West who donated to Ukrainian organizations are at risk if they travel to Russia. If telegram is surveyed by the Russian state that turns into a problem quickly.
It can even go both ways: nothing prevents Telegram to be blocked in Russia, as well as being used to harvest potentially life threatening info about Russian citizens at the same time.
Same for YouTube. If it gets blocked for good, does not mean you can't go to jail for speaking out while on YouTube.
The obvious take away at the moment is to think twice what you write anywhere in the Internet, as well as to avoid doing things with such dire consequences, or at least not bragging about them anywhere on the net.
Potentially, but then there is still the risk of what the government knows. Russian citizens living in the West who donated to Ukrainian organizations are at risk if they travel to Russia. If telegram is surveyed by the Russian state that turns into a problem quickly.