Is Telegram the new free speech messenger service.

 WORLD LEADERS ENCOURAGE SHIFT TO TELEGRAM OVER U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA

CENSORSHIP OFTEN JUST FORCES EVERYONE UNDERGROUND

While U. S. based tech leaders have used their power to censor those who they do not agree with, it has created a reaction that may be sending many into uncharted waters. It also may make identifying real threats and real dangers harder to see.

Since the coordinated attack on Parler, a growing competitor for the tech liberals, who relied on these r U.S. based companies for their services, it seems the move is now going to be out of the U.S., possibly to platforms that are not easily monitored. As is often the case, an over-reaction and biased based action may result in a situation far worse than the cure.

All the social media sites had community standards concerning unlawful activity, child pornography, human trafficking and advocating violent action and they were well respected and approved by most of their users. In 2019 they went off their own standards and expanded to a bias against speech by conservatives. It was a naked power political play that will have lasting effects.

We then saw a move to Parler that was growing by the day and then the tech world coordinated an attack that disabled Parler, possibly permanently. I suspect this move is going to cost the perpetrators billions in the long run, if not actual ruin.

Now the new social media site that is emerging is Telegram. It predecessor company was founded in 2013 and as of this week claims 500 million monthly users. Telegram was started by Nikolai  and Pavel Duruv in Russia in 2013. In 2014 their company was taken over by allies of Vladimir Putin and they headquartered in Berlin from 2014 and 2015. They are now headquartered in Dubai. They offer an impressive array of services from internet chat to video and voice communications. Many of their services are encrypted.

They operate from numerous servers placed around the world. They may be the beneficiary of the biased based actions of the tech oligarchy. The actions by these companies has aroused concern by many world leaders, who wonder if  they may be next to be targeted by these adolescent authoritarians.

It seems that while the tech giants at present have a monopoly on social media, they may be in for a future of playing wack a mole, not only by competitors, but by those who are going to be demanding compensation. This action may come from both private and government entities. It is likely many of these people, while gifted in their technical abilities, have little experience in world politics. They have already alienated a sizable number of their customers, they will now be faced by competition and government actions from many sources. This may not be the new world they envisioned.