“Civil society has had a sophisticated relationship with Telegram over time,” says Natalia Krapiva, a lawyer on the digital rights group Entry Now. “We’ve defended Telegram in opposition to makes an attempt by authoritarian regimes to dam and coerce the platform into offering encryption keys, however now we have additionally been elevating alarms about Telegram’s lack of human rights insurance policies, dependable channel of communication, and treatment for its customers.” Krapiva stresses that French authorities could attempt to drive Durov to offer Telegram’s encryption keys to decrypt non-public messages, “which Russia has already tried to do previously.”
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 publish concerning the Telegram CEO’s detention. “The necessity to defend 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 steadily described as an encrypted messaging app, messages are usually not end-to-end encrypted by default, and senior executives beforehand informed WIRED that they view the platform as a social community. That is largely because of Channels—an one-to-many broadcast function that permits limitless subscribers to view posts.
One of many posts that has gained probably the most traction on X was by right-wing former Fox Information journalist Tucker Carlson, who alluded to the oft-repeated however 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 publish that has thus far been considered at the very least 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 lately.
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 continues to be in common contact with Durov. “No one was ready for this example.” Requested if he frightened about Telegram’s future and who may run the corporate in Durov’s absence, Lobushkin says: “[I] fear so much.”
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 certain,” one unnamed investigator informed 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 most effective authorized protection cash may purchase. “However with out him, the messenger could have large issues with administration, all essential choices and even funds,” he added, given Durov’s private involvement in working the corporate. Rozenberg noticed no apparent alternative 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 thing may be anticipated to proceed as regular, says Elies Campo, who directed Telegram’s development, 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 workers—that the infrastructure gained’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 by way of connectivity—and he is nonetheless below arrest?”