Pavel Durov says Telegram would exit markets before betraying users
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has expressed concerns over the growing threat to private messaging in France and other European Union countries, warning that Telegram would rather exit certain markets than implement encryption backdoors that undermine user privacy.In an April 21 post to his “Du Rove’s channel” on Telegram, he posted an alarming message about the EU’s increasing efforts to weaken messaging encryption by adding backdoors, a method that would allow authorities to bypass encryption and access private user data.Durov cited initiatives from French and EU lawmakers to require messaging apps like Telegram to implement backdoors for police access and stressed Telegram’s commitment to digital privacy.“Telegram would rather exit a market than undermine encryption with backdoors and violate basic human rights,” Durov stated, adding: “Unlike some of our competitors, we don’t trade privacy for market share.”Backdoors can be exploited by criminalsIn his message, Durov highlighted that the biggest problem behind encryption backdoors lies in their accessibility not only to authorities but also to hackers and foreign agents.“It’s technically impossible to guarantee that only the police can access a backdoor,” Durov said, adding that backdoors would put users’ private messages at risk of being compromised.He added that criminals would likely turn to lesser-known apps and use virtual private networks (VPNs) to avoid detection, rendering such regulations ineffective. Telegram “never disclosed a single byte” of private messagesDurov said that while Telegram complies with valid court orders in some jurisdictions, such as disclosing IP addresses and phone numbers found to be involved in criminal activity, it has never exposed any private messages:“In its 12-year history, Telegram has never disclosed a single byte of private messages. In accordance with the EU Digital Services Act, if provided with a valid court order, Telegram would only disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of criminal suspects — not messages.”He urged privacy advocates to keep communicating with lawmakers and promote encryption as a protection tool of privacy and safety for ordinary people, rather than see it as a criminal tool.
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Source: cointelegraph.com
Published: April 21, 2025
