The big social media news of the weekend was the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. He was taken into custody on Saturday morning after landing in Paris. The arrest is part of an ongoing investigation into Telegram's role in spreading criminal activity through Telegram chats.
Telegram, which does not implement end-to-end encryption for its chats by default, is under investigation for refusing to enforce moderation rules designed to combat criminal activity on the app and for refusing to cooperate with law enforcement in related investigations.
However, because Telegram's chats are not encrypted, investigators have full access to the content shared in Telegram groups and chats, so they know the extent of criminal activity on the app, and Telegram has reportedly refused to take action against it despite warnings from authorities.
That is why Durov has now been taken into custody, even as free speech advocates seek to portray this as an example of state overreach and political censorship. They portray Telegram as the victim of a campaign by the “censorship industrial complex” aimed at silencing dissent to their chosen narratives.
In fact, it seems that Telegram's own decision not to encrypt its chats and provide more security to users has led to this new measure.
Does this mean that fully encrypted apps like WhatsApp are likely to experience similar levels of criminal activity?
Well, it probably is, but it's encrypted, so authorities have no way of detecting or tracking it. Telegram's laxer privacy measures have exposed it to increased scrutiny, and EU officials are now trying to crack down on a major source of criminal links, and likely with a ton of evidence.
But Durov's arrest is being derided by conservative groups as an attack on free speech – especially because they themselves have switched to Telegram for their chats.
In 2021, X owner Elon Musk, who has now become one of the most influential conservative commentators in the world, said advised his followers to “use Signal” as their preferred messaging app because he was concerned that WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, was leaking information about people's private chats. There is no evidence that WhatsApp's encryption is not secure, but as part of his long-running dispute with Meta and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Musk felt that Signal was a better option.
Until he didn't anymore.
When we found out earlier this year that NPR CEO Katherine Maher is on the board of the Signal Foundation, Musk has changed his mindsuggesting that Signal may not actually be secure, which again is based on its own bias against NPR rather than evidence.
This prompted many conservative groups to switch to Telegram instead. Telegram is nowhere near as secure as WhatsApp or Signal and by this time already had a reputation for allowing unmoderated illegal activity on the app.
As a result, many conservatives are now outraged that their preferred messaging platform is being targeted, even though there is more of a correlation than a causal relationship in this regard.
In response to Durov’s arrest, Telegram released the following statement:
“Telegram complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is in line with industry standards and is constantly improving. Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe. It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.”
So Telegram clearly wants to put the responsibility back on users rather than making the company responsible for the content people share on the app.
However, it will be difficult for Durov's lawyers to make the whole thing a success, considering that the app has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the authorities in the past and Durov himself has avoided such cooperation.
In essence, however, it is less about fighting against a platform of “free speech” and more about combating criminal activities, even if conservative commentators claim the opposite.
Note: Rumbles CEO has also left Europe for fear that he too could be arrested.
