Telegram and Signal Havens for Right-Wing Extremists
Since the violent storming of Capitol Hill and subsequent ban of former U.S. President Donald Trump from Facebook and Twitter, the removal of Parler from Amazonβs servers, and the de-platforming of incendiary right-wing content, messaging services Telegram and Signal have seen a deluge of new users. In January alone, Telegram reported 90 million new accounts. Its founder, Pavel Durov, described this as βthe largest digital migration in human history.β Signal reportedly doubled its user base to 40 million people and became the most downloaded app in 70 countries. The two services rely on encryption to protect the privacy of user communication, which has made them popular with protesters seeking to conceal their identities against repressive governments in places like Belarus, Hong Kong, and Iran. But the same encryption technology has also made them a favored communication tool for criminals and terrorist groups, including al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary like a bank. Bitcoinβs creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, originally described the need for βan electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.β Each and every Bitcoin transaction thatβs ever been made exists on a public ledger accessible to everyone, making transactions hard to reverse and difficult to fake. Thatβs by design: Core to their decentralized nature, Bitcoins arenβt backed by the government or any issuing institution, and thereβs nothing to guarantee their value besides the proof baked in the heart of the system. βThe reason why itβs worth money is simply because we, as people, decided it has valueβsame as gold,β says Anton Mozgovoy, co-founder & CEO of digital financial service company Holyheld.
