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“Civil society has had a sophisticated relationship with Telegram over time,” says Natalia Kapriva, a lawyer on the digital rights group Entry Now. “We’ve got defended Telegram towards makes an attempt by authoritarian regimes to dam and coerce the platform into offering encryption keys, however we’ve got additionally been elevating alarms about Telegram’s lack of human rights insurance policies, dependable channel of communication, and treatment for its customers.” Kapriva stresses that French authorities might attempt to pressure Durov to supply Telegram’s encryption keys to decrypt non-public messages, “which Russia has already tried to do up to now.”
The hashtag #FreePavel has been spreading on-line, together with through X’s CEO, Elon Musk, who has posted quite a few instances about Durov’s arrest. “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and also you’re being executed for liking a meme,” he wrote on Saturday evening in response to a submit in regards to the Telegram CEO’s detention. “The necessity to shield free speech has by no means been extra pressing,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who on Friday endorsed Donald Trump for US president, wrote on X, the place he referred to Telegram as “uncensored” and “encrypted.”
Whereas Telegram is often described as an encrypted messaging app, messages are not end-to-end encrypted by default, and senior executives beforehand advised WIRED that they view the platform as a social community. That is largely because of Channels—an one-to-many broadcast characteristic that permits limitless subscribers to view posts.
One of many posts that has gained essentially the most traction on X was by right-wing former Fox Information journalist Tucker Carlson, who alluded to the oft-repeated but debatable story that Durov left Russia as a result of the federal government tried to take over his firm. “However ultimately, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for permitting the general public to train free speech. It was a western nation,” Carlson wrote in a submit that has thus far been seen not less than 5.7 million instances. Carlson additionally linked to an hour-long interview he did with Durov earlier this yr, one of many first and solely interviews the Telegram CEO has given in recent times.
In Durov’s absence, Telegram’s future appears unsure to some: “I’m in shock, and everybody near Pavel feels the identical,” says Georgy Lobushkin, former head of PR at VK, a social community Durov cofounded, who remains to be in common contact with Durov. “No one was ready for this example.” Requested if he apprehensive about Telegram’s future and who might run the corporate in Durov’s absence, Lobushkin says: “[I] fear rather a lot.”
TF1Info, which first broke the information in France of Durov’s arrest, reported that it was “past doubt” that Durov would stay in custody throughout the investigation. “Pavel Durov will find yourself in pretrial detention, that is for positive,” one unnamed investigator advised reporters.
“Nobody in Telegram was ready for such a state of affairs,” says Anton Rozenberg, who labored with Durov from the early days of VK in 2007, earlier than working for Telegram from 2016 to 2017. Rozenberg foresaw Durov buying the very best authorized protection cash might purchase. “However with out him, the messenger might have big issues with administration, all essential choices and even funds,” he added, given Durov’s private involvement in operating the corporate. Rozenberg noticed no apparent substitute for Durov, who makes key choices on almost all issues at Telegram—financing, growth methods, product design, monetization, and content material moderation coverage.
For now, every little thing may be anticipated to proceed as regular, says Elies Campo, who directed Telegram’s progress, enterprise, and partnerships from 2015 to 2021. “Relying on how lengthy that is going to final, it’s like a authorities, proper? There’s this construction, there’s self-momentum.” Campo provides that the corporate’s employees is sufficiently small—round 60 staff—that the infrastructure received’t be affected.
The problem, Campo concedes, could be if Durov must be bodily current to pay suppliers—one thing Rozenberg additionally flagged.
“So far as I do know, Pavel did the funds,” Campo says. “So what is going on to occur when there must be some funds for infrastructure suppliers, or suppliers when it comes to connectivity—and he is nonetheless below arrest?”
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