Pavel Durov Profile picture
Aug 24 4 tweets 1 min read Read on X
One year ago, the French police detained me for 4 days because some people I’d never heard of used Telegram to coordinate crimes. Arresting a CEO of a major platform over the actions of its users was not only unprecedented — it was legally and logically absurd.
A year later, the ‘criminal investigation’ against me is still struggling to find anything that I or Telegram did wrong. Our moderation practices align with industry standards, and Telegram has always responded to every legally binding request from France.
Ironically, I was arrested due to the French police’s own mistake: before August 2024, they ignored French and EU laws and hadn’t sent any of their queries to Telegram via the required legal process. They could have learned the correct procedure simply by googling it or asking.
One year after this strange arrest, I still have to return to France every 14 days, with no appeal date in sight. So far, the only outcome of my arrest has been massive damage to France’s image as a free country. One thing is certain: we’ll keep fighting — and we will win ✊

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More from @durov

Aug 14
👨‍🏫 A month ago, my father — a leading expert in Ancient Roman literature — turned 80. I asked what advice I should pass to the next generation. He gave me 3:
👨‍💻 1. Lead by example. People — especially kids — follow what you do, not what you say. Watching my father work tirelessly on numerous books and scientific papers showed me and my brother the meaning of dedication and inspired us to work hard too.
💖 2. Focus on the positive. Growing up in post-war Leningrad, my father learned to control emotions to be a positive force for his family, colleagues and society. He taught me to frame thoughts in ways that bring the most good, even in hard times.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 16
🎙 A week ago, Tucker Carlson published an interview with me about what happened in France. It was covered by media in many countries — except, interestingly, in France. 🤐

📰 The French media hasn’t lost interest in Telegram. Last week, Le Monde, the country’s main newspaper, invited its readers to report whether they watch pirated football matches on Telegram. This attempt to crowdsource a negative story about us is a part of a broader strategy.
In just the 7 weeks following my arrest in Paris, Le Monde published 40 negative articles about Telegram. In violation of journalistic ethics, they did not ask us for a comment in 37 of these 40 articles and always ignored the factual corrections we sent them. 🤦‍♂️
Read 4 tweets
Apr 21
Last month, France nearly banned encryption. A law requiring messaging apps to implement a backdoor for police access to private messages was passed by the Senate. Luckily, it was shot down by the National Assembly. Yet 3 days ago the Paris Police Prefect advocated for it again.
The members of the National Assembly were wise to reject a law that would have made France the first country in the world to strip its citizens of their right to privacy. Even countries that many Europeans view as lacking in freedoms have never banned encryption. Why?
Because it’s technically impossible to guarantee that only the police can access a backdoor. Once introduced, a backdoor can be exploited by other parties — from foreign agents to hackers. As a result, the private messages of all law abiding citizens can get compromised.
Read 8 tweets
Nov 30, 2022
The blockchain industry was built on the promise of decentralization, but ended up being concentrated in the hands of a few who began to abuse their power.
The solution is clear: blockchain-based projects should go back to their roots – decentralization. Cryptocurrency users should switch to trustless transactions and self-hosted wallets.
We, developers, should steer the blockchain industry away from centralization by building fast and easy-to-use decentralized applications for the masses. Such projects are finally feasible today.
Read 7 tweets

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