Telegram launches a contest for creators making videos about digital freedom

Telegram has announced the Digital Freedom Contest, a competition aimed at content creators across major social platforms.

Participants are invited to produce a viral video on the topic of digital freedom and publish it on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or X.

The total prize pool reaches $200,000. Submissions are open until July 15 at 23:59 Dubai time, and Telegram plans to announce the winners in August 2026.

• The main requirement is that each video must reach at least 10,000 "real" views. Telegram has also clarified that low-quality submissions and posts suspected of artificially inflated view counts will be disqualified.
• Entries must incorporate at least some of the ideas or footage from Pavel Durov's recent speech at the annual Oslo Freedom Forum, hosted by the international Human Rights House Foundation.
• Creators are still free to add any other footage or ideas of their own, as long as the content supports the digital freedom theme. There are no restrictions on language or production tools, and a single creator can submit multiple videos across different platforms.

Pavel Durov in Oslo: on the loss of freedoms, mass surveillance, and censorship

Telegram founder Pavel Durov delivered a keynote address at the annual Oslo Freedom Forum, organized by the Human Rights Foundation.

Durov˙s CodeVlad Voitenko

Telegram plans to publish detailed instructions for submitting links to videos on July 6, through the official Telegram Contests channel.