The big news on social media over the weekend was the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was detained upon arriving in Paris on Saturday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into Telegram's role in allowing criminal activity to flourish through its chats.
Telegram, which does not implement end-to-end encryption by default for chats, is under investigation for refusing to enforce moderation rules to combat criminal activity within the app and has also refused to cooperate with law enforcement in related investigations.
But because Telegram chats are not encrypted, investigators have full access to the content shared in Telegram groups and chats, giving them insight into the level of criminal activity within the app, which is reportedly again refusing to act despite warnings from authorities.
This is why Durov is currently in detention, but free speech advocates are highlighting this as an example of government overreach and political censorship, and seeking to position Telegram as a victim of a campaign by the “censorship-industrial complex” to silence voices that disagree with their chosen narrative.
In fact, it appears that Telegram's own decision to not encrypt chats and provide additional security to its users led to this new measure.
So does this mean that a similar level of criminal activity could be happening on a fully encrypted app like WhatsApp?
Probably so, but because it's encrypted, authorities can't detect or enforce it anyway. Telegram's lax privacy measures have led to increased scrutiny, and EU authorities are now looking to combat a major source of criminal ties and likely have plenty of evidence.
But once again, conservative groups have condemned Durov's arrest as an attack on free speech, mainly because they themselves have migrated to Telegram for chatting.
In 2021, Elon Musk, the owner of X and currently one of the most influential conservative commentators in the world, He encouraged his followers to “use Signal.” Musk didn't choose Signal as his messaging app because he was concerned that Meta-owned WhatsApp was sharing information about users' private chats. While there's no evidence to suggest WhatsApp's encryption is insecure, as part of a long-running feud with Meta and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Musk felt Signal was a better option.
Until he doesn't.
Earlier this year, NPR CEO Katherine Maher is a board member of the Signal Foundation, and Musk Changed Attitudesuggests that Signal may not actually be safe, but again, this is based on NPR's own biases rather than evidence.
As a result, many conservative groups turned to Telegram, which was less secure than WhatsApp or Signal and already had a reputation for not controlling illegal activity within the app.
So while many conservatives are now outraged that their preferred messaging platform is being targeted, in this respect it's more correlation than causation.
Following Durov's arrest, Telegram released the following statement:
“Telegram complies with EU law, including the Digital Services Act, and its moderation is within industry standards and is constantly being improved. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently to Europe. It is absurd to claim that the platform or its owners are responsible for misuse of its platform.”
So, Telegram is clearly trying to put the blame on users, rather than holding the company responsible for the content they share within the app.
But it could be a tough negotiation for Durov's legal team, given the app's history of refusing to cooperate with authorities, and Durov's own reluctance to do so.
But essentially, this isn't about fighting “free speech” platforms, it's about addressing criminal activity, no matter what conservative commentators may claim otherwise.
Note: Rumble CEO Left Europe Because of fears that he too may be arrested.