Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested 48 hours ago when his private plane landed near Paris.
Durov was born in Russia, and Telegram has nearly 1 billion active users. The Russian government has requested Durov's extradition. Additionally, Telegram is sometimes used for nefarious purposes, such as for terrorists to communicate, or to deliver child pornography (two of the worst things imaginable).
Based on these facts, how can one conclude that Durov is not a villain?
This is wrong. Most people get this story completely wrong. Durov is actually a hero.
Durov's first company, VK, is Russia's largest social platform. Durov founded the company when he was about 21 years old, when he was basically a kid. Because Durov was unwilling to cooperate with the Russian government, the government effectively took his company away.
The experience was a transformation for Durov, who founded Telegram when he left VK. He designed every detail of Telegram to avoid collaborating with authoritarian governments. He wanted to create a platform that would allow citizens to communicate across borders and authoritarian regimes.
Now, however, people around the world view Durov in the worst possible light.
"This app is being used to do bad things, and he's Russian, so he must be the bad guy!"
But they forget that Telegram has played a crucial role in many pro-democracy protests over the past decade. Many called the 2020 protests in Belarus the "Telegram revolution." Here are some headlines and excerpts from The Associated Press in 2020 .
Now let’s dig a little deeper. Pavel Durov became a French citizen in 2021. How did he obtain this passport? In a rare achievement in France, the passport was issued directly by French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron. We don’t know exactly why Macron gave him this passport, but perhaps it has something to do with Telegram’s role in helping organize protests in the Russian proxy state?
Over the past 48 hours, the narrative in the West (except Platform The French government has just filed 12 charges against him, most of which are related to horrific things, such as "conspiracy to possess pornographic images of minors."
You might ask yourself:
"I know Telegram was used to send such information, so how could he be innocent?"
What you miss is that Durov has been an enemy of authoritarian governments throughout his adult life. Many Western governments are rapidly moving towards authoritarianism, so Durov has now become their enemy.
I don’t know much about the French system, so I don’t know how much influence President Macron has, but from the outside world, he has always left me with the impression of a kind-hearted person. I hope he can find a way to intervene in this.
These charges against Durov can be brought against virtually any social media platform. I cannot stress the importance of the next few days. Liberal values are under great threat in the West, something that few people truly understand.
"If freedom of speech is denied us, we may be as dumb and silent as sheep led to the slaughterhouse." - George Washington
Fight.
