This Sunday, August 25, we woke up to a rather curious and even alarming piece of news. Telegram CEO Pável Dúrov Arrested in FranceThe arrest took place on the outskirts of Paris, at Le Bourget airport, where the Russian-born businessman arrived aboard a private jet after visiting Azerbaijan.
What did he do? Officially, neither Telegram nor the French Ministry of the Interior have commented on the matter, but the local media that reported the news (TF1 TV and BFM TV) have revealed the main reason for the arrest of Pável Dúrov. And it’s more complicated than it seems.
Why did France arrest Pavel Durov?
The arrest of Pável Dúrov follows an arrest warrant issued in France as part of a preliminary police investigation. The investigation in question focuses on the lack of moderation on Telegram, which the police consider complicity so that criminal activity can take place unhindered in the messaging application.
If you dig deep into Telegram, it will not be very difficult for you to stumble upon piracy, shady groups, ultraviolent content, pornography (including child pornography), sextortion, drug and weapons trafficking, etc. The reason is simple: since Telegram is a 100% encrypted messenger that actively protects the privacy and anonymity of its users, It is the favorite app of many criminals and friends of illegality. who do not want to be discovered by the security forces. But… What specifically worries France about Telegram?
Telegram has become a problem for governments around the world
«I’d rather be free than take orders from anyone.» said Pável Dúrov in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson when talking about his departure from Russia, which led him to move his company to Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco. And in 2014, Durov fled his home country after refusing to comply with Russian government demands to close down opposition communities on his social network VK, which he later sold.
Since then, relations between Durov and the Russian government have not been good. In 2018, Russia has begun blocking Telegram after the app refused to comply with a court order grant state security services access to its users’ encrypted messages.
Everything seems to indicate it. This situation is repeated in France, whose government has been more energetic than Putin’s.arresting the CEO to clarify once and for all the role Telegram plays in the illegal activities carried out on the app.
France’s relationship with Telegram
French President Emmanuel Macron’s inner circle has embraced the messaging app Telegram, using it since his rise to power and during his presidential campaign last year. Macron was looking for an encrypted messaging service to communicate securelyeven from his political rivals, according to Reuters reports.
However, earlier this year, security tools installed by Thales Group on officials’ devices prevented the use of Telegram and WhatsApp. privacy concerns. This has led the French government to create its own encrypted messaging service to protect the private conversations of senior officials and prevent data leaks to servers outside the country. This service is still in the testing phase.
Not a secondary fact: in 2021 Russian and French media he reported it Pavel Durov obtained French nationality. This leads us to ask… Why did France go so quickly from love to hate with Durov?
Dúrov’s position is clear: Telegram is a neutral platform
Although we have no statements from Pável Dúrov about his arrest yet, the CEO of Telegram had already said so previously Some governments had tried to put pressure on him, but the request was to remain a neutral platform. and not an actor in geopolitics. In other words, it refuses to cooperate with governments, regardless of the country.
Interestingly, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative to international organizations in Vienna, and others Russian politicians accused France of acting like a dictatorshipreplicating the criticism that Russia itself received in 2014 and 2019 when they wanted to censor VK and Telegram respectively.
In the meantime, There are already protests in France and X (Twitter) ask the French government to immediately release Pavel Dúrov. And you… What do you think about the arrest of Telegram’s CEO?
