Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was recently arrested in Paris based on an international arrest warrant issued by French authorities.
The arrest follows concerns about Telegram's alleged lack of moderation, particularly in light of EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act. In response, Telegram issued a statement assuring that the manager had nothing to hide.
Technology leaders condemn arrest
On August 26, Telegram's official account X tweeted that the platform fully complies with EU laws and uses moderation practices that meet industry standards. The company highlighted Durov's frequent travels in Europe and dismissed the idea that a platform or its owner should be held accountable for user abuse.
“Nearly a billion users around the world use Telegram as a means of communication and a source of important information. We await a quick resolution of this situation. Telegram is with all of you.”
The arrest of the 39-year-old billionaire has sparked a heated debate online, with the hashtags #FreeDurov and #FreePavel trending. Former American NSA intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden condemned the arrest, saying that the move was an attack on the basic human rights of freedom of expression and association. SpaceX founder Elon Musk expressed a similar opinion as he strongly condemned the arrest of the Russian-born tech leader.
In a follow-up post on X, Musk criticized Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, asking why he had not faced similar legal issues as Durov. Musk further suggested that Zuckerberg may have avoided arrest by complying with censorship demands and claimed that Instagram has a significant child exploitation problem that remains unresolved.
The X-CEO also accused Zuckerberg of censoring free speech and giving governments backdoor access to user data.
Lack of standard end-to-end encryption
Samson Mow, CEO of hyperbitcoinization company Jan3, expressed support for Durov's release but also criticized Telegram's operational strategy.
Mow pointed out the risks associated with operating a platform like Telegram without end-to-end encryption by default, saying this approach makes the platform vulnerable to pressure from regulators.
He drew a parallel between Telegram and Nostr, a decentralized social network, and highlighted what he believes is a critical flaw in the latter's reliance on relays. According to Mow, ignoring this architectural problem could lead to Nostr's downfall.
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