Why France Arrested a Free Speech Tech Tycoon

• Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested last week in France for his alleged complicity in spreading illegal and exploitative content

• The communications app provides users with secure conversations and has nearly one billion users

• Durov joins other tech leaders, including Elon Musk, who have been targeted for refusing to capitulate to free speech skeptical governments

The story

Late last week, French authorities arrested Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the popular communications app Telegram. Durov, who has French citizenship, was accused of being complicit in the distribution of child pornography, among other charges. He has since been released on bail.

The Telegram app is a mix of texting and social media. While many people use it to communicate with friends, it is also popular for its “Channels” feature, where individuals can broadcast messages to unlimited subscribers.

This feature is a powerful way of getting one’s message out: many celebrities and politicians, including former president Donald Trump, frequently post in their respective channels. What many using Telegram appreciate is its secrecy; the app refuses to turn over information about users or the content of their conversations unless a government can clearly prove that the account is being operated by a terrorist or law-breaker.

Telegram's refusal to hand over user content has sparked significant backlash, especially since the app is frequently used by individuals with malicious intent. ISIS and its affiliates often use apps like Telegram and TikTok to indoctrinate individuals from afar; many who traffic in and distribute child pornography also use the app.

Telegram has also refused to participate in international programs aimed at combating child pornography online. While the company says it somewhat moderates its content, Durov has claimed it only has 30 engineers to oversee all its content — a minuscule number for an app that boasts nearly one billion users worldwide.

The politics

Many on the right are more prone to believing that the European Union is explicitly cracking down on Durov because he refuses to cooperate with liberal governments. While Telegram claims to moderate content related to child exploitation and drug trafficking, its efforts do not completely align with the French government's standards, which conservatives see as an unjust reason for Durov's arrest.

And although the issue of free speech does not neatly parce down political lines, the ongoing political realignment in the United States has caused many of the strictest free speech advocates to group themselves on the right. Figures like Elon Musk, who aren't typically conservative, have aligned with the right due to their belief in the importance of genuine free speech.

Some on the left argue that governments worldwide have the right to set their own standards on free speech and expression, and they feel threatened when large groups online reach conclusions that differ from those endorsed by a central government.

The Western left has moved in a direction that is more skeptical of absolutist speech. College campuses, which are often run by ideological leftists, have increasingly restricted free speech as of late, and liberals governments around the world have attempted to force Musk to police their platforms by removing “misinformation.” Musk’s current battle with a Brazilian judge is even threatening to shut down X in the entire country.

The missing context

What is often left unexamined is why secure messaging apps like Telegram are so popular. It is not the only one: WhatsApp (owned by Meta) boasts that it provides secure communications (though it collects other data like location), and apps like Signal created their own protocol, which keeps users’ information and communications extremely private.

These apps are only popular because people feel that their privacy is not being respected by global governments. If they felt that their privacy was secure, they would not be turning to these apps.

Scandals like the leaks provided by Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, coupled with the massive expansion of government surveillance after the 9/11 attacks, have seriously hampered people’s belief that governments or companies respect their privacy.

A poll taken last year found that 71 percent of Americans do not trust the government on privacy issues — and that 81 percent do not trust the companies collecting their data.

The harsh actions taken against tech leaders like Durov and Musk are in stark contrast to the leniency often granted to individuals like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who caved when the FBI pressured him to remove content on Hunter Biden’s laptop right before the 2020 election.

Why it matters

The rise of populist waves across the West is not solely due to migration or the collapsing trust in major institutions. Time and time again, major tech companies and governmental institutions have colluded to suppress unapproved speech, eroding the good faith they once held with average people.

When people do not believe they have privacy and that more powerful actors do not have their best interest in mind, they will find alternative institutions to put their trust.

Companies like Telegram, which promise data security, will, therefore, continue to flourish. If France manages to get Telegram shut down, then users will migrate to Signal or any number of apps that are designed to keep its user’s data secure.