Pavel Durov, CEO and co-founder of Telegram speaks onstage during day one of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 at Pier 70 on September 21, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)After lashing out at French media for printing a “bad image” of his social media platform Telegram, founder and CEO Pavel Durov has now officially addressed the circumstances of his arrest in Paris, and why French lawmakers were “wise to reject” a policy change affecting internet usage.
In an X thread published on April 21, Durov talked about a law that the French Senate passed to implement a way for authorities to access private messages.
“Last month, France nearly banned encryption…Luckily, it was shot down by the National Assembly. The members were wise to reject a law that would have made France the first country in the world to strip its citizens of their right to privacy,” he posted
Durov: France still wants to eliminate privacy
Durov’s comments come just weeks after he was temporarily permitted to leave France in the midst of a criminal investigation related to Telegram’s alleged role in illegal online activity. The Russian-born tech executive, who holds French and Emirati citizenship, had been barred from leaving France for months after his arrest near Paris in August.
After acknowledging that the National Assembly blocked the measure, Durov noted that French officials have not abandoned the idea. He cited comments made by the Paris Police, who asked the government to continue discussing laws to limit encryption.
“Even countries that many Europeans view as lacking in freedoms have never banned encryption,” Durov argued. “Why? Because it’s technically impossible to guarantee that only the police can access a backdoor.”
According to the Telegram founder, introducing vulnerabilities would compromise the privacy of all users and expose them to exploitation by foreign agents, hackers, and criminal networks.
“In its 12-year history, Telegram has never disclosed a single byte of private messages,” Durov reckoned. “In accordance with the EU Digital Services Act, if provided with a valid court order, Telegram would only disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of criminal suspects, not messages.”
He added that the company would rather exit a national market than take a compromise on encryption through government-mandated backdoors, bashing competitors who, in his view, have prioritized growth over user privacy.
“The battle is far from over. This month, the European Commission proposed a similar initiative to add backdoors to messaging apps. No country is immune to the slow erosion of freedoms. Every day, those freedoms come under attack, and every day, we must defend them,” he concluded.
The case is still ongoing in France
Durov is still facing several misconduct charges and other legal proceedings in France. French authorities have accused the 40-year-old tech mogul of complicity in several offences allegedly facilitated through Telegram’s platform.
Prosecutors also allege that Durov refused to cooperate with law enforcement requests for assistance in tackling these issues.
After his arrest last August, Durov was released from custody but ordered to check in at a police station twice weekly. Travel restrictions had prevented him from leaving France until mid-March.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that those restrictions were temporarily lifted from March 15 to April 7, allowing Durov to return to Dubai on March 17.
“I’ve returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram,” Durov wrote after the ban was lifted. “The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home.”
He continues to maintain his innocence and insists that he should not be held personally responsible for platform users’ behaviour.
“When it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years, Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations,” he said Monday.
In the European Union and elsewhere, governments are increasingly pressuring social media and messaging platforms to enhance user protections, especially in matters of child safety, terrorism, and disinformation.
Paris’s top prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, previously bashed the platform for what she described as a “near-total absence” of cooperation with law enforcement inquiries.
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