“Civil society has had a complicated relationship with Telegram over the years,” says Natalia Kapriva, a lawyer at the digital rights group Access Now. “We have defended Telegram against attempts by authoritarian regimes to block and force the platform to provide encryption keys, but we have also been raising the alarm about the lack of human rights policies, a reliable communication channel and a solution for its users.” Kapriva stresses that French authorities may try to force Durov to provide Telegram’s encryption keys to decrypt private messages, “something Russia has already tried to do in the past.”
The hashtag #FreePavel has been spreading online, including via X CEO Elon Musk, who has posted numerous times about Durov’s arrest. “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme,” he wrote Saturday night in response to a post about the Telegram CEO’s detention. “The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who on Friday endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. president, wrote on X, where he referred to Telegram as “uncensored” and “encrypted.”
While Telegram is often described as an encrypted messaging app, messages are not end-to-end encrypted by default, and senior executives previously told WIRED that they consider the platform a social network. This is largely due to Channels, a one-to-many broadcasting feature that allows posts to be viewed by an unlimited number of subscribers.
One of the most widely reported posts on X was by right-wing former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson, who alluded to the oft-repeated but debatable story that Durov left Russia because the government tried to take over his company. “But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech. It was a Western country.” Carlson wrote in a post that has so far been viewed at least 5.7 million times. Carlson also included a link to an hour-long interview he did with Durov earlier this year, one of the first and only interviews the Telegram CEO has given in recent years.
In Durov’s absence, Telegram’s future seems uncertain to some: “I’m in shock, and everyone close to Pavel feels the same,” says Georgy Lobushkin, a former PR head of VK, a social network Durov co-founded, who is still in regular contact with Durov. “Nobody was prepared for this situation.” Asked if he is worried about Telegram’s future and who might run the company in Durov’s absence, Lobushkin says: “(I am) very worried.”
The media outlet TF1Info, which was the first to report Durov’s arrest in France, reported that there is “no doubt” that Durov will remain in custody during the investigation. “Pavel Durov will end up in pre-trial detention, that’s for sure,” an anonymous investigator told reporters.
“No one at Telegram was prepared for such a scenario,” said Anton Rozenberg, who worked with Durov from VK’s inception in 2007 before working for Telegram from 2016 to 2017. Rozenberg foresaw that Durov would get the best legal defense that money could buy. “But without him, the messenger can have huge problems with management, with all crucial decisions, and even with payments,” he added, given Durov’s personal involvement in the company’s management. Rozenberg saw no obvious replacement for Durov, who makes key decisions on almost all matters at Telegram: funding, development strategies, product design, monetization and content moderation policy.
For now, one can expect business as usual, says Elies Campo, who led Telegram’s growth, business and partnerships from 2015 to 2021. “Depending on how long this lasts, it’s like a government, right? There’s this structure, there’s a drive of its own.” Campo adds that the company’s staff is small enough — around 60 employees — that the infrastructure won’t be affected.
The challenge, Campo admits, would be whether Durov needs to be physically present to pay suppliers, something Rozenberg also noted.
“As far as I know, Pavel made the payments,” Campo says. “So what will happen when some payment is due to be made to infrastructure providers or connectivity providers and he is still detained?”
