Telegram CEO Arrested as Part of Probe Into Criminal Activity in the App

The big social media news of the weekend was the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was taken into custody upon landing in Paris on Saturday morning, as part of an ongoing probe into the role that Telegram has played in allowing criminal activity to proliferate via Telegram chats.

Telegram, which does not implement end-to-end encryption by default for its chats, has been under investigation over its refusal to enforce moderation rules to combat criminal activity in the app, while it’s also refused to cooperate with law enforcement on related investigations.

But because Telegram’s chats are not encrypted, investigators have full access to the content being shared in Telegram groups and chats. So they know the level of criminal engagement in the app, which Telegram, again, has reportedly refused to act upon, despite warnings from authorities.

Which is why Durov has now been taken into custody, though free speech advocates are looking to highlight this as an example of government overreach and political censorship, framing Telegram as the victim of a campaign by the “censorship industrial complex” to silence dissenting opinion to their chosen narratives.

When, really, it seems like Telegram’s own decision to not encrypt its chats, and provide more security for users, has led to this new action.

Does that mean that similar levels of criminal activity are probably happening in fully encrypted apps like WhatsApp?

Well, probably, but it’s encrypted, so authorities have no way of detecting or enforcing such either way. Telegram’s more lax privacy measures have opened it up to more scrutiny, with EU officials now seeking to combat a key source of criminal connection, and likely with a lot of evidence.

But again, the arrest of Durov is being derided by conservative groups as an attack on free speech, mostly because they themselves have migrated to Telegram for their own chats.

Back in 2021, X owner Elon Musk, who’s now become one of the most influential conservative commentators in the world, advised his followers to “Use Signal” as their messaging app of choice because of his concerns that WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, was sharing information on people’s private chats. There’s no evidence to suggest that WhatsApp encryption isn’t secure, but as part of his long-running beef with Meta, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Musk felt that Signal was a better option.

Till he didn’t.

Earlier this year, upon finding out that NPR CEO Katherine Maher is on the board of the Signal Foundation, Musk changed his tune, suggesting that Signal may not actually be secure, which is based, again, on his own bias towards NPR, not on evidence.

That then prompted many conservative groups to shift to Telegram instead. Which is very much not as secure as WhatsApp or Signal, and at that stage, already had a growing reputation for allowing illegal activity to go unmoderated in the app.

Hence, now many conservatives are outraged that their messaging platform of choice is being targeted, though it’s more correlation than causation in this respect.

In response to Durov’s arrest, Telegram has published the following statement:

“Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving. Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe. It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”

So Telegram will clearly be looking to put the onus back on users, as opposed to holding it responsible for the content that people share in the app.

But it could be a tough sell for Durov’s legal team, considering the app’s history of refusing cooperation with authorities, and Durov’s own avoidance of such.

But essentially, this is less about combating a “free speech” platform, and more about addressing criminal activity. Even if conservative commentators will look to suggest otherwise.    

Note: Rumble’s CEO has also left Europe due to concerns that he too may be facing arrest.