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Darren Loucaides

@darrenloucaides.bsky.social
481 followers 722 following 97 posts

Author of KILLER APP: THE RISE OF TELEGRAM & THE BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET pub by @faberbooks Nov5 Bylines: WIRED, the Guardian, Rolling Stone, FT Weekend Magazine

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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I'm so delighted to announce my debut book KILLER APP out with @FaberBooks Nov 5! Based on 5+ years of reporting, it tells the story of Telegram, the controversial platform with 1bn users & its enigmatic founder, Pavel Durov – arrested in Paris in 2024. www.faber.co.uk/journal/fabe...
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Faber Books @faberbooks.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Introducing Killer App: The Rise of Telegram and the Battle for the Future of the Internet by @darrenloucaides.bsky.social A thrilling, globe-trotting story of the enigmatic billionaire Pavel Durov – 'Russia’s Zuckerberg’ – and his platform, Telegram. Out 5 November: faber.co.uk/journal/fabe...
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
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...
theguardian.com
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
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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
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/...
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Excellent new roundup of digital surveillance shockers here ⬇️
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
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...
ft.com
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
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FT Weekend @ftweekend.com · 15/01/2026
Wikipedia may be the largest compendium of human knowledge ever created, but can it survive? ft.trib.al/nNmaQ7e
ft.trib.al
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
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...
youtube.com
Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482
YouTube video by Lex Fridman
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
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...
theguardian.com
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Cool so TikTok passes from dangerously authoritarian china to authoritarians renowned for phone spyware www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
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...
rollingstone.com
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
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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
This is the brown part of Valhalla where we drink lime soda and feast on samosas
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
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...
rollingstone.com
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
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...
theguardian.com
‘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
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Tom Ewing @tomewing.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
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...
bbc.com
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.
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
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
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
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
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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
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...
wired.com
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.
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Erm guess what the reply was
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
i just started a new band 😅
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I just keep thinking about the air quotes around his own name
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
There's literally no plan to stop this other than promoting Labour deportations with a sky-blue colour scheme
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Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Good morning to this man, and this man only #bbcqt
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
RFK Jr has just been confirmed as health secretary. Here’s my piece about him from earlier this week
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
I had been reporting on Querdenken and similar movements for years, without knowing that @williamcallison.bsky.social and @quinnslobodian.com had coined the term diagonalism, popularised by @naomiklein.bsky.social in her excellent Doppelganger. Def read their work to know more!
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
RFK Jr epitomises the dangerous new “diagonalism” at the heart of Trump’s coalition Me for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Robert F Kennedy Jr has mass appeal despite his extreme ideas. This theory explains why | Darren Loucaides
In just a few years, Kennedy and his dangerously popular ‘diagonalist’ politics have gone from the fringes of the web to, perhaps, the White House, says Darren Loucaides, a writer based in Barcelona a...
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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Very busy week; I missed this @darrenloucaides.bsky.social feature on Pavel Durov. Interesting nugget: a WIRED analysis found that Telegram was very likely to have more than 45 million users in the bloc. That's the threshold for a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act.
wired.com
Inside the Bust That Took Down Pavel Durov—and Upended Telegram
The Russian-born CEO styles himself as a free-speech crusader and a scourge of the surveillance state. Here’s the real story behind Pavel Durov’s arrest and what happened next.
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Last August, Telegram's boss Pavel Durov was arrested in France for alleged complicity in crimes that could land him in prison for 10 years. Ever since, I've been digging into how this all came about and the roots go back years. My latest feature for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/pavel-...
wired.com
Inside the Bust That Took Down Pavel Durov—and Upended Telegram
The Russian-born CEO styles himself as a free-speech crusader and a scourge of the surveillance state. Here’s the real story behind Pavel Durov’s arrest and what happened next.
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Last August, Telegram's boss Pavel Durov was arrested in France for alleged complicity in crimes that could land him in prison for 10 years. Ever since, I've been digging into how this all came about and the roots go back years. My latest feature for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/pavel-...
wired.com
Inside the Bust That Took Down Pavel Durov—and Upended Telegram
The Russian-born CEO styles himself as a free-speech crusader and a scourge of the surveillance state. Here’s the real story behind Pavel Durov’s arrest and what happened next.
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
it happened - Reform ahead of Labour in YouGov poll
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
yes, this @glichfield.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/futurepo...
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
make it stop
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
ha! i've been doing this! ask me in a year if it led to 80k words of incoherent nonsense
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
DeepSeek feels a prime example of how stupidly fast the tech-news cycle is now Day 1 - tech stocks crash cos no one expected China to do AI cos US banned a few chips Day 2 - uh, but it censors anything CCP likes and sends them all our data Day 3 - everyone forgets about DeepSeek?
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
“We just clean out the whole thing” For those who think Trump means peace for Gaza, this is what he just said should happen
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
In 2023 i pitched a bunch of editors a longform on Farage as the most important figure in Brit politics since Blair. The gen response was we’re tired of Farage, who cares, old news. Soon his party will top opinion polls
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Even trolls are like ughh give it a rest
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
kinda rate the level of shamelessness here
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Mornings are for overcoming the existential dread of the night before
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
He knew exactly what he was doing with the salute. Musk's mother's family were members of the Nazi Party in Canada and fiercely pro-apartheid. This flows through his veins @paologerbaudo.bsky.social
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
can’t someone just sort out myspace
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Esther Schindler @estherschindler.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Mood
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Reading how for reelection Obama's team learned from web gurus like Larry Page how to build a new kind of campaign for the mobile-digital era. And how Obama's style fit so well on platforms, phones. And, like, historians are going to see Trump as the obv next step in that aren't they...
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Interesting but proportional representation would be no panacea for American politics. Israel has one of the most extreme versions of PR. In most recent Austria, Netherlands, Sweden elections the far-right came first or second www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Opinion | How to Fix America’s Two-Party Problem
Proportional representation could help restore American democracy.
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
The original story from Bloomberg has no byline and the byline for this Guardian pick-up is Reuters 🤔 www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Chinese officials reportedly discuss sale of TikTok in US to Elon Musk
Bloomberg News says preliminary talks have taken place but TikTok spokesperson rejects report as ‘pure fiction’
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Darren Loucaides @darrenloucaides.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Why what’s happening is happening www.ft.com/content/917c...
ft.com
The coming battle between social media and the state
Behind the alignment of X and Meta with Trump is a cold business logic — and a position of weakness rather than strength
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