I must confess I’m not a big user of social media, but messaging apps – that’s a different story. Google Chat is integral to 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 the doorstep without keys.
But some apps I know less about, and Telegram is one of them. Due to its watertight security and a function that lets users form very large groups, Telegram has a reputation for being popular with people organising on the margins – and that could mean pro-democracy protesters, far-right extremists, criminal gangs or terrorists.
