“Civil society has had a complicated relationship with Telegram over the years,” said Natalia Krapiva, a lawyer for the digital rights group Access Now. “We have defended Telegram against attempts by authoritarian regimes to block it and force it to give up its encryption keys, but we are also alarmed by its lack of a human rights policy, a reliable communication channel, and remedies for its users.” Krapiva stressed that French authorities could try to force Durov to give up Telegram’s encryption keys to decrypt his private messages. “Russia has already tried to do this in the past.”
The hashtag #FreePavel has been spreading online, including multiple posts about Durov’s arrest from X CEO Elon Musk, who responded to a post about the Telegram CEO’s detention on Saturday night, writing, “Perspective: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.” On Friday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. President, wrote on X that “the need to protect free speech has never been more urgent,” referring to Telegram as “uncensored” and “encrypted.”
Telegram is often described as an encrypted messaging app, but messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted by default, and senior executives have previously told WIRED that they view the platform as a social network. That’s largely because of its channels, a one-to-many broadcast feature that allows an unlimited number of subscribers to view your posts.
One of the most-engaged posts on X was by right-wing former Fox News reporter Tucker Carlson, who alluded to the oft-repeated but controversial narrative that Durov left Russia because the Russian government was trying to take over his company. “But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise their right to free speech. It was the West,” Carlson wrote in the post, which has been viewed at least 5.7 million times so far. Carlson also linked to an hour-long interview with Durov from earlier this year, one of the first and only interviews the Telegram CEO has given in recent years.
Telegram’s future without Durov seems uncertain to some. “I’m shocked, and so is everyone close to Pavel,” says Georgy Lobushkin, a former PR director at VK, the social network co-founded by Durov, who still regularly contacts Durov. “Nobody was prepared for this.” When asked if he was concerned about Telegram’s future and who would run the company without Durov, Lobushkin said: “It’s a big deal.[I] “I have a lot of worries.”
TF1Info, which first reported Durov’s arrest in France, said Durov “without a doubt” will remain in custody during the investigation. “Pavel Durov will definitely remain in pre-trial detention,” an unnamed investigator told reporters.
“Nobody at Telegram was prepared for such a scenario,” says Anton Rosenberg, who worked with Durov since VK’s early days in 2007 and then worked at Telegram from 2016 to 2017. Rosenberg predicted that Durov would have the best legal representation money could buy. Given Durov’s personal involvement in the company’s operations, he added, “but without him, the messenger would have huge problems with management, all the important decisions, and even payments.” Rosenberg believes that there is no one who can replace Durov, who makes key decisions on virtually every issue at Telegram: funding, development strategy, product design, monetization, and content moderation policy.
For now, everything can be expected to continue as normal, says Ellis Campo, who led Telegram’s growth, business and partnerships from 2015 to 2021. “It’s like a government, depending on how long this goes on, there’s this structure, there’s this self-driving power,” Campo said, adding that the company is small, with about 60 employees, so its infrastructure won’t be affected.
Campo acknowledged that it would be problematic if Durov had to be physically present to pay the health care provider, a point Rosenberg also made.
“As far as I know, Pavel paid,” Campo said. “So what happens if the infrastructure provider or the connectivity provider needs to pay? And he’s still under arrest?”