Darren Loucaides

Russian crackdown on Telegram app prompts rare criticism from soldiers, pro-war bloggers and officials Critics say restricting social media app risks harming communications between state, military units and public

Based on this useful piece by @pjotrsauer.bsky.social seems unlikely Russia will outright ban Telegram given damage could do to military www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Telegram escapes stricter EU rules – for now Telegram has managed to dodge direct supervision by the Commission under the EU’s landmark tech law, the Digital Services Act (DSA) – at least for now. As we recently reported, the Dubai-based messaging app has played down its user figures to Belgian and European regulators to avoid being classified as a “very large online platform”. Crossing the DSA’s 45-million-user threshold would trigger stricter obligations, including tougher action against illicit content and a significant expansion of moderation. Last week, the Commission announced that Telegram’s rival WhatsApp would be placed under its scrutiny. But that day is yet to come for Telegram itself. “At this moment, the Commission does not have information suggesting that the number of average monthly active recipients of Telegram in the EU, for the part of the service that falls within the definition of an online platform, is above the threshold of 45 million,” a Commission official told Follow the Money. Alexander Fanta

Telegram has successfully avoided coming under direct supervision of the European Commission under the EU's Digital Services Act. The "poor man's dark web" remains unregulated, for now.

From our latest newsletter: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Excellent new roundup of digital surveillance shockers here ⬇️

Wikipedia may be the largest compendium of human knowledge ever created, but can it survive? As the website turns 25, it faces myriad challenges from regulators, AI, the far right and Elon Musk

Wikipedia turns 25 today. The question is – vs AI, threats from governments & Elon Musk – can it survive?

Me for @ftweekend.com

www.ft.com/content/5137...

Wikipedia may be the largest compendium of human knowledge ever created, but can it survive? As the website turns 25, it faces myriad challenges from regulators, AI, the far right and Elon Musk

Wikipedia may be the largest compendium of human knowledge ever created, but can it survive? ft.trib.al/nNmaQ7e

Thanks a lot!

Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482 YouTube video by Lex Fridman

This is why we need journalists.

4 hours, few new insights – except new claim of an assassination attempt. Why not ask Durov if he saw a doctor or confirmed poisoning?

Why let Durov again use Edward Snowden's legacy & not ask about Snowden's criticism of Telegram?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjPH...

Spotify founder Daniel Ek steps down from CEO role Ek founded Stockholm-based music streaming company nearly two decades ago and will stay on as executive chair

don't see this reversing the wave of artists taking their music off Spotify. by Ek's own admission he's still at the helm just changed titles, but it provides a good spin opp www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Abu Dhabi royal family to take stake in TikTok US under Trump deal MGX, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will take 15% stake, with social media firm valued at $14bn

Cool so TikTok passes from dangerously authoritarian china to authoritarians renowned for phone spyware www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Sounds like potentially grounds for a book in and of itself!

Neuralink, Elon Musk, and the Race to Put Chips Into Our Brains Though brain chips are all over TV and the news now with Neuralink, scientists have worked on the tech for decades. And some question Musk’s approach

Elon Musk and Neuralink get most of the attention re brain implants, but they're building on decades of work by academic research labs like @caltech.edu's – and some experts question the "move fast break things" approach.

My latest for @rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

This is the brown part of Valhalla where we drink lime soda and feast on samosas

Neuralink, Elon Musk, and the Race to Put Chips Into Our Brains Though brain chips are all over TV and the news now with Neuralink, scientists have worked on the tech for decades. And some question Musk’s approach

Elon Musk and Neuralink get most of the attention re brain implants, but they're building on decades of work by academic research labs like @caltech.edu's – and some experts question the "move fast break things" approach.

My latest for @rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational The long read: Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker reality

Therapeutic retreat or deadly cult? Fascinating deep dive by @samshepedwards.bsky.social from last month into a company offering ayahuasca sessions around the globe www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ju...

3 layer sophisticated Winnie the Pooh meme Al is like The Library Of Babel Al is like Pierre Menard, Author Of The Quixote Al is like Ton, Uqbar, Orbus Tertius

Thames Water boss says turnaround to take a decade The company's future remains uncertain as it posts losses of £1.65bn for the year to March.

Thames Water has paid £7bn to shareholders since privatisation. Customers can’t switch companies cos it’s a monopoly. Nationalise it www.bbc.com/news/article...

ISIS, Al-Qaeda… and a group that spray painted planes

Dunno why we still pretend our politics is polarised when the there’s an authoritarian consensus on so many issues across

@darrenloucaides.bsky.social finds some troubling bedfellows. observer.co.uk/news/busines...

Additional reporting @gabrielthierry.bsky.social

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and Elon Musk are set to launch a $300m partnership via Grok that caps off a long tech bromance. My piece for the
@observeruk.bsky.social on Sunday

observer.co.uk/news/busines...

Additional reporting
@gabrielthierry

Sets a worrying precedent. If the default is now to state the suspect is white to defuse misinformation, what will happen when their race cant be identified or they’re not white? Troublemakers will be able to fan flames even easier

If the riots had been in, say, France, I would say yes. Can’t see the uk prosecuting musk, but the Telegram boss’ arrest shows you these things are not impossible

lol I wondered when she would try it again

Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’ Musk’s loyalists at DOGE have infiltrated dozens of federal agencies, pushed out tens of thousands of workers, and siphoned millions of people’s most sensitive data. The next step: Unleash the AI.

A must-read feature (with heart-stopping design) from the @wired.com team:

Elon Musk’s loyalists at DOGE have infiltrated dozens of federal agencies, pushed out thousands of workers, and siphoned millions of people’s most sensitive data.

What's next? Unleash the AI.

www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

Erm guess what the reply was

i'm sick ironically and perceiving this through brain fog but are you actually criticising sick pay

i just started a new band 😅

or prey?

That’s so much worse! It’s so weird!

I just keep thinking about the air quotes around his own name