Telegram’s collision course: inside the Guardian Weekly, September 6 | Telegram

I confess I’m not a big user of social media, but messaging apps – that’s a different story. Google Chat is an integral part of the Guardian Weekly team’s hybrid working setup, and barely an hour goes by without a WhatsApp message pinging on my phone from a friend, an activity group or a teenager on my doorstep with no keys.

But there are some apps I’m less familiar with, and Telegram is one of them. With its airtight security and a feature that allows users to form very large groups, Telegram is known to be popular with those organizing on the fringes—and that could mean pro-democracy protesters, far-right extremists, criminal gangs, or terrorists.

Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder and CEO, has long portrayed the app as a politically neutral platform for free speech. But last week, the enigmatic Russian who once called himself an “internet prophet” was arrested in France and charged with complicity in the distribution of child sexual abuse images, as well as a host of other alleged offenses, raising questions about whether Telegram — and, by implication, other social networks — can be held criminally liable by nation states for illegal content that appears on them.

In this week’s big story, Russian reporter Pyotr Sauer charts the rise and (possible) fall of Durov, while our outgoing UK technology editor Alex Hern wraps up the series with an explanation of Telegram and its wider implications.

Next, the Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr discusses the charges against Durov in relation to last week’s unrelated ban on Elon Musk’s X network in Brazil. She asks: Isn’t it time for the world to stand up to the billionaire tech bros?

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Five essential reads in this week’s edition

1
In the spotlight | Ukrainian troops during their daring invasion of Russia
According to Shaun Walker in Sumy, soldiers said they were given no warning of what they were about to do before the morale-boosting attack began.

2
Science | The flying scientists who show migratory birds the way home
The bald ibis has been extinct in Central Europe for 300 years, but a flock of northern ibis is following a small plane on a migration route from Austria to Spain, reports Phoebe Weston.

3
Function | Tony Blair on the art of leadership
The former UK Prime Minister speaks to Andrew Rawnsley about giving up power, why he wouldn’t be impressed by a second Trump term and why he’s an AI evangelist.

4
Opinion | Why does Macron insist on playing king?
The French president’s refusal to appoint a new prime minister from the left shows breathtaking arrogance and undermines democracy, argues Rokhaya Diallo.

5
Culture | Look who’s mad again
Will an Oasis reunion be a success? Definitely. Will it be worth it? Maybe, say Guardian arts writers.

What else we’ve read

Back-to-school season has its own “new year, new you” vibe, and the change of seasons leads to a lot of lists of what to read, do, or listen to. I downloaded the cultural recommendations , but the first and most important thing to tackle is my terrible time management, so I dove into this encyclopedic list of life hacks . If I can add a few more to the three or four I already practice (like making my bed every morning and hanging my socks in pairs), then I’ll have room to read and watch more. Isobel Montgomery, Deputy Editor

Other highlights from the Guardian website

Video | Explanation – who is Pavel Durov?

Sound | What Australians are buying and what it says about the economy – Full Story podcast

Gallery | River Story: The Life and Times of a River Over the Year

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