Is this the downfall of the tech barons? The arrest of Russian messaging billionaire Pavel Durov has struck a blow against the power of big tech. Some hope this will be the start of a huge transformation.
Billionaire with 100 children charged
Chill wind: Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, was arrested in France last week for aiding and abetting crimes including child abuse, drug trafficking and money laundering. Glossary
Le Bourget - A town in the Paris region.
Impunity - Safety from punishment. It derives from a Latin word for penalty.
Telegram - Today: an encrypted instant messaging app. In the past: a message sent via electric wires and delivered as a printed piece of paper. As every word was expensive, making the message as short as possible became an art. A famous joke telegram sent from Venice read, "STREETS FULL OF WATER PLEASE ADVISE".
UAE - The United Arab Emirates is a country in the Middle East, and the location of Dubai.
Sperm donation - When a man donates sperm to a couple or woman in order to help them have a child. Although they are biologically the father, they do not claim to be a parent of the child.
Open source - When information is free for everyone to use.
DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid is the material in an organism that carries genetic information.
Encryption - A way of scrambling data so that only certain people can understand it.
Pressure groups - Organisations that put pressure on governments to change policy on specific issues - e.g. LGBT rights or climate change.
Iran - A country in Western Asia, officially called the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has a population of 84 million.
Hong Kong - An estimated two million people took part in pro-democracy, anti-government protests in 2019.
Islamic State - A terrorist organisation that captured whole swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and launched a series of attacks in Europe and North America. It is also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Disinformation - False information intended to mislead, including propaganda, which all too often encourages the spread of misinformation, fake news spread by mistake. It is contrasted with misinformation, which may be spread accidentally.
Censorship - Preventing or stopping speech, writing or communication that is considered harmful or "inconvenient".
Autocratic - Relating to a ruler with total power.
Whistleblower - Someone who exposes secretive behaviour by a group or organisation; once used to describe police who blew whistles to signal the scene of a crime.
YouGov - A British public opinion and polling company. It was co-founded by Nadhim Zahawi, a Conservative Party politician.
Canny - Being shrewd, astute, or having good judgment, especially in financial or business matters.