On Saturday, 24th August, Russian-French billionaire and founder of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, was arrested at Bourget Airport outside Paris. He was travelling abroad on his private jet when he was detained due to an outstanding arrest warrant in France, linked to a preliminary police investigation against him.
According to reports, the investigation focuses on the lack of moderation on the Telegram app, which police claim has facilitated criminal activities. Telegram has approximately one billion users and is widely used in Russia, Ukraine, and the republics of the former Soviet Union. After Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat, Telegram is the seventh most popular social media platform globally.
Pavel was born in Russia and developed Telegram with his brother in 2013. In 2014, Pavel Durov left Russia after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on the VKontakte social media platform, which was later sold.
Since Russia launched its military operation against Ukraine, Telegram has become the primary source of unfiltered information from both sides. The information shared is often graphic, particularly concerning the war and politics.
Notably, the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that its embassy in Paris is monitoring the situation surrounding Pavel Durov and has called on Western non-governmental organisations to demand his release. This statement is significant given that since 2018, Russia has been blocking Telegram after the app refused to comply with court orders to grant security agencies access to users’ encrypted messages.
On X, Elon Musk quoted a post talking about recent arrests made in the name of not following government orders or guidelines, and said, “Dangerous times.”
Dangerous times https://t.co/FuB6NEWOqr
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
In recent times, the European Union has become increasingly aggressive on digital freedom. Pavel’s arrest cannot be seen as an isolated incident. Just a few months ago, the EU threatened Elon Musk with sanctions if X (formerly Twitter) did not comply with its content moderation policies. Recently, when Musk hosted an X Space with former U.S. President Donald Trump, the European Commission issued a threatening letter to Musk, expressing concern over the management of alleged harmful information on X.
The message the EU is sending is clear: fall in line with their censorship rules or face the consequences. Notably, Telegram, with over a billion users, has long been a barrier against government control over free speech and its users’ freedom of expression. Telegram has repeatedly refused to bow to government pressure to release data about its users, which has now made it a target for the EU.
Other tech giants, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube, have either faced action or bowed down to censorship demands. WhatsApp has faced increasing pressure from EU regulators to weaken its security features in the name of public safety. Facebook and YouTube have been accused of bowing to government pressure on several occasions to censor the content published on their platforms.
Ironically, the EU prides itself on being a bastion of human rights, but it is now becoming a master of censorship. Telegram and X are under consistent scrutiny for their content. Tomorrow, it could be any other platform that dares to allow uncensored content.
