- Search warrant issued
- Impact on Telegram, TON
- Telegram commentary
- Reaction of Ilon Musk and Vitalik Buterin
- US wanted to control Telegram
- Telegram privacy in the spotlight
Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France on August 24 in connection with alleged breaches of the encrypted messaging platform. According to Le Monde and other French media, Pavel Durov’s arrest was made at Le Bourget, north of Paris, after landing on his private jet from Azerbaijan.
Le Monde cited sources close to the case who confirmed Durov’s arrest. At the same time, a Bloomberg report noted that Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also confirmed the information in a Telegram post.
Search warrant issued
The French Ministry of Justice (OFMIN), the agency that oversees crimes against minors, has reportedly issued a search warrant as part of a preliminary investigation into Telegram. AFP reported that the alleged crimes range from fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organized crime. Multiple reports have noted that the investigation is related to Telegram’s alleged lack of content moderation.
OFMIN is coordinating the investigation into Durov and Telegram. The messenger’s CEO is reportedly set to face trial. Some reports claim that Durov could face up to 20 years in prison due to the nature of the alleged offenses.
Impact on Telegram, TON
Open Network (TON), a third-party blockchain protocol integrated into Telegram, claims to have remained fully operational for several hours after Durov’s arrest.
In an official statement, the TON X account said the protocol was unaffected and its community rallied around Durov.
“As a community committed to free speech and decentralization, we stand firmly by Pavel during this challenging time”.
Telegram comment
Telegram commented officially for the first time on Pavel Durov’s detention in France. In a statement, it said that “Telegram complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is in line with industry standards and is constantly improving.” “Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe. It is absurd to claim that the platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of the platform. Nearly a billion users around the world use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of important information. We are waiting for a speedy resolution to this situation,” the authors of the publication emphasized.
Reaction of Ilon Musk and Vitalik Buterin
Tesla founder and X owner Ilon Musk on August 24 published on his social media platform a previous interview between Durov and independent journalist Tucker Carlson with the hashtag #FreePavel. In the video, Durov said Musk’s takeover of Twitter was a positive development for technological innovation and free speech.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also touched on the topic in a response to a post by American entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan. Buterin said he had previously criticized Telegram’s encryption standards, but said the initial information regarding the allegations against the platform seemed “very bad and worrisome for the future of software and freedom of communication in Europe.”
Other prominent figures gathered at X to discuss these developments as Telegram began to gain traction on the social media platform. American politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who suspended his US presidential campaign in August 2024, said the arrest of Pavel Durov underscored the need to protect platforms that ensure freedom of speech and privacy.
The US wanted to control Telegram
In his interview with Carlson, Durov claims that Telegram attracted unwanted attention from the FBI and other US intelligence agencies whenever he entered the country. The Telegram CEO claimed that US officers tried to hire one of his engineers during his last visit to the US.
“Cybersecurity officers or agents tried to secretly hire my engineer behind my back. They were curious to know what open-source libraries were integrated into the Telegram app, and they tried to convince him to use certain open-source tools that would serve as backdoors,” Durov told Carlson.
The Telegram CEO added that FBI agents often stopped him when he entered the US and asked him questions about the messaging service.
Telegram’s privacy in the spotlight
Industry groups have raised questions about Telegram’s privacy features. In X, a post by GrapheneOS, a company specializing in open source mobile operating systems and security, highlighted concerns about Telegram’s access to group and individual chats.
“Telegram has full access to all content in group chats and regular private chats because of the lack of end-to-end encryption. Their secret subscription chats use homegrown end-to-end encryption with weaknesses. Removing content from the app will likely not remove all copies of it.”
GrapheneOS added that Telegram could potentially transmit individual and group messages to French authorities.
Since no formal charges have been filed yet, many believe the arrest is due to Durov’s refusal to disclose confidential information of Telegram users. He cannot be responsible for the correspondence of all users, but giving the keys to track them is in his power. Durov’s refusal apparently led him to such an unpleasant situation.
In the meantime, the French have issued a press release, where they indicated the points on which they made the arrest of Pavel Durov:
- complicity in the administration of an online platform for the purpose of carrying out illegal transactions by an organized group;
- refusal to provide, at the request of competent authorities, information or documents necessary for the implementation and use of wiretapping authorized by law;
- complicity in the possession of pornographic images of underage children;
- complicity in distributing, offering or placing at the disposal of an organized criminal group images of underage children of a pornographic nature by conspiracy;
- complicity in the acquisition, transportation, storage, offering or transfer of narcotic drugs;
- complicity in offering, transferring or providing, without lawful cause, equipment, tools, programs or data designed or adapted to attack automated data processing systems;
- complicity in the fraud of an organized gang;
- criminal conspiracy to commit a felony punishable by three years imprisonment;
- complicity in crimes or offenses as part of an organized gang;
- providing cryptologic services that do not exclusively provide authentication or integrity control functions aimed at providing confidentiality functions without proper declaration;
- supplying cryptologic devices that do not exclusively provide authentication or integrity control functions without prior declaration;
- import of a cryptologic device that do not exclusively provide authentication or integrity control functions without prior declaration.
