What happened

According to information received, Durov, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes to be $15.5 billion, was detained at around 20:00 local time while flying from Azerbaijan on his private jet. It was reported that the arrest was related to an ongoing investigation in France. The specific nature of these crimes has not been disclosed at this time, but the media is speculating in this direction Durov is accused of not moderating content on Telegram, which means he facilitated drug trafficking and child crimes.

French authorities believe that inaction from the messenger’s management has allowed criminals to proliferate unchecked on the platform. Since Telegram’s policy is not to interact with states, this has made regulation by governments and law enforcement impossible.

Durov previously said that Telegram should remain a “neutral platform” and not a “player in geopolitics”, despite pressure from some governments. But that’s exactly what happened, because today Messenger has a special influence in Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet republics and is considered one of the largest social media platforms. A large number of users call it the main source of news and other information Creates extreme risks by allowing viewers’ opinions to be manipulated through anonymous channels.

Russia enters the game

According to Russian propaganda media, the Russian embassy in France is taking “urgent measures” to clarify the situation and release Durov, although he himself has long stated that he has nothing to do with Russia and left there a long time ago with no intention of returning. After past attempts to block Telegram, which temporarily crashed part of the Russian Internet, we do not know what agreements Durov and the Russian government have reached, but they have given up trying to block the service, and now it is also one of the main means of communication and propaganda of the Russians.

What could be the consequences?

First of all, it should be noted that You should not expect the service to stop working due to an arrestIt is clear that Durov’s existence does not depend on whether the servers are working or not.

The team behind Telegram is said to be based mostly in the United Arab Emirates, where Durov lives and spends most of his time. Telegram’s main operations center is located in Dubai, and servers are allegedly spread around the world, including the United States.

In the absence of Pavel Durov most likely the messenger will be directed by his brother Mykola DurovHe is one of the developers of Telegram and is said to have created its encryption completely.

Then everything depends on how the case against Durov will proceed. He may agree to certain agreements, but it is not possible to say at the moment what the French government’s demands will be and whether the country’s authorities will be interested in any agreement. This could be, for example, the provision of encryption keys, although Durov himself has repeatedly claimed that his encryptions do not involve the existence of any keys, and apparently even the company itself does not have access to user data.

It is clear that simply deleting illegal data is no longer enough, because over the years their numbers have accumulated and a large number of crimes have occurred.

The head of the Central Security Service of the NSDC, Andriy Kovalenko, said that Durov’s arrest can be compared to the hacking of Enigma by the British during World War II.

Telegram is the only messaging tool actively used by the Russian military.
– says Kovalenko, adding that thanks to Durov’s case “the entire Russian intelligence network in Europe can collapse.”

Telegram in Ukraine

Ukrainian officials speak Telegram may be blockedIf its leadership does not communicate with the Ukrainian government, Telegram is seen as a problem due to its lack of moderation and alleged ties to Russia that pose a national security risk.

Although there is no direct evidence that the service leaked data and chat content to Russian special services, many believe so. The Russians themselves also claim to have received intelligence data from Telegram and used it to guide missiles. The specific methodology of this process is unclear.

The head of the parliament’s humanitarian and information policy committee, Nikita Poturaev, previously stated that the mass use of Telegram, especially by state officials and authorities, is a problem that “will cost everyone dearly.”