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evening sitdown
Your evening longread: How the Telegram app helps fuel global protest
It’s a coronavirus-free zone as we bring you an interesting longread each evening to take your mind off the news.
EVERY WEEK, WE bring you a round-up of the best longreads of the past seven days in Sitdown Sunday.
And now, every weeknight, we bring you an evening longread to enjoy which will help you to escape the news cycle.
We’ll be keeping an eye on new longreads and digging back into the archives for some classics.
The messenger app Telegram has become a key part of protests globally – here’s why, and how.
(The Guardian, approx 17 mins reading time)
The first place they looked was Nexta Live (pronounced “Nekhta” and meaning “someone” in Belarusian), a channel on Telegram. “Nexta says we should go towards the residence!” one man called out, joining a column of people making the short walk to Lukashenko’s official residence. Outside was a police line: cars, makeshift fences and a few hundred riot officers in balaclavas with shields. It was clear that attempting to push through would result in bloody clashes. Again, advice flashed up in the Nexta Telegram feed. “Minsk! Do not approach the police line! The best decision now is to disperse.” The crowd did just that. Since then, every Sunday, they have come out; each week, Nexta has announced the time and place of the protest a day or two before.
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