Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Lika KobeShavidze
“Long before the messaging app Telegram became the go-to newswire for warzones and opposition movements in the Middle East, it played a pivotal and paradoxical role in some of the region’s most defining uprisings. From the Arab Spring to the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran, Telegram has functioned as a dual-edged tool: an encrypted refuge for citizen journalists and organizers, and at times, a channel quietly tolerated or even manipulated by authoritarian regimes. In the absence of free and independent media, the app has evolved into the region’s unofficial press, shaping not only how information spreads but also who controls the narrative.” (07/23/25)