Oh, that’s an interesting observation. I think it might also be linked to the content consumed on commutes, and in public spaces while on the phone.

That, yes. They had to arrest Durov before he started doing anything about Telegram.

I have no notes on the rest of your points, it will likely be a gigantic shitshow.

I’m thinking they might be using the definition from Digital Services Tax policies, which state that:

The social media definition focuses on two key aspects of user participation. An online service will meet the definition when both of the following conditions are met:

• The main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of the service is to promote interaction between users (including interaction between users and user-generated content).
• Making content generated by users available to other users is a significant feature of the service.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/digital-services-tax/dst14200

If that’s the case, then Rumble et al would be banned too. It might just be, that the press release just mentions the most popular ones.

That they don’t intend to target messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Signal (and potentially Telegram) is a bit of a greyzone. Telegram is more social network than messaging app these days, where channels are a huge part of the platform. In fact, it’s such an important part, that WhatsApp copied the Channel feature to their platform.

I see no mention of Rumble or Telegram. Are they left out on purpose, or because they have no idea what they are doing?

And how should this switch be operated, and by who?

It’s hard to imagine a kill switch for a communications device meant to be used for rendering a stolen device inaccessible or useless being misused by anyone with power anywhere in the world. At all.

Ever.