The recent arrest of Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, has drawn harsh criticism from Elon Musk and Edward Snowden, who are worried about the consequences for individual liberty and free speech. Musk supported Durov by using the hashtag #FreePavel on his social media site, X. He underlined how crucial it is to protect free expression in democracies and cautioned that this arrest would set a dangerous precedent. The privacy activist and whistleblower Edward Snowden called the arrest a “assault on basic human rights” and charged that French President Emmanuel Macron was taking advantage of the circumstances to obtain private correspondence.
The billionaire owner of the encrypted messaging app Telegram noted for its focus on privacy, who was Durov, got himself arrested in Le Bourget airport near Paris after touching down from a private jet that came from Azerbaijan. He was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by French authorities who alleged that Durov had not acted against the illegal actions happening on Telegram, including cyberbullying, distribution of pedophiliac content, and terrorism propaganda.
Despite the accusations, Telegram has argued that it complies with EU regulations. It holds that blaming Pavel Durov for user activities is unfair, considering the strong stance of the platform on privacy and encryption.
Due to the fact that Durov is considered a political prisoner in Russia, where he holds dual citizenship with the United Arab Emirates and France, the detention has caused great indignation. Access to Durov has been desired by Russian officials, who claim that the West is exploiting him as a pawn in a bigger political game.
In 2013, after Durov left Russia because of pressure from the Kremlin, he founded Telegram, which currently has about 1 billion users worldwide. Due to its continued importance as a means of communication, particularly in combat areas like the current war in Russia and Ukraine, Durov’s incarceration has generated intense worldwide controversy.