Freedom Fighter or FSB Agent: Who Is Pavel Durov Really?

There is a widespread belief that Durov advocates an uncensored internet. But his actions indicate otherwise.

The founder of the popular messenger Telegram, Pavel Durov , who was detained in France, has a controversial reputation. For many, he is a symbol of freedom and intolerance to censorship. For others, he is one of the most successful projects of the FSB, with which he probably still closely cooperates. The British The Telegraph tried to draw a portrait of this man to understand how he ended up in a French temporary detention facility.

Early years and the creation of Vkontakte

The grandparents of the future Telegram founder were among the tens of millions of Russians persecuted by Joseph Stalin. In particular, his grandfather was sent to one of the infamous Gulag camps.

Pavel Durov was born in 1984 in Leningrad to Russian and Ukrainian parents. However, the family was clearly not simple, as Pavlik spent most of his childhood in the Italian city of Turin, where his father worked.Video of the day

By the time the family eventually returned to Russia, the Iron Curtain had fallen, and Durov had enrolled in one of the humanities departments at St. Petersburg State University. While there, he began to draw inspiration from Silicon Valley and the success of Facebook in particular, learning to code.

After graduating, he created the social network VKontakte, similar to the American Facebook. VKontakte quickly became the most popular social platform in the country. Durov himself described the time as a “libertarian paradise” in the unregulated Internet market that existed in Russia at the time.

But in 2011, the situation changed. Durov angered the Kremlin by refusing to comply with demands to block opposition groups on VKontakte amid that year’s massive street protests.

Loss of control over VKontakte and flight from Russia

Durov’s relationship with the authorities continued to deteriorate. His home was searched, and in 2014, Durov decided to leave Russia. It was at that time that he was fired as CEO of VKontakte after publicly refusing to hand over user data to Russian intelligence services and block the account of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

Shortly before his escape, he received citizenship of the island nation of St Kitts and Nevis after investing $250,000 in the Caribbean country’s sugar industry.

In 2021, he received French citizenship under suspicious circumstances, although he had lived mainly in Dubai during this time, where he also received a passport of the United Arab Emirates.

Durov is said to lead an ascetic lifestyle, avoiding meat, alcohol, caffeine and sugar. He has no family. However, it is difficult to say anything about who Durov really is, since he rarely gives interviews and does not reveal details of his life on social networks.

What’s wrong with Telegram

The Telegram messenger, created in 2013, became Durov’s main project after losing control over VKontakte. The app is praised and criticized for almost the same thing.

It operates through a complex network of international servers and front companies to insulate it from regulation and government interference.

Privacy is paramount – it offers users secure messaging and calling, and the ability to create “groups” for up to 200,000 people to communicate with, or “channels” for publishing content to an unlimited number of subscribers. It also has a self-destructing “Secret Chat” feature. In 2015, Durov said that since Telegram was founded, “we have not disclosed a single byte of user data to third parties, including government officials.”

The program’s defense has made it a useful source of news in parts of the world where censorship is widespread, and an important tool for pro-democracy activists living under repressive regimes such as Iran and Belarus.

But it also has a dark side, as privacy and anonymity features make the platform a safe haven for criminals. Researchers warn that Telegram is a sprawling ecosystem of illegal and violent content linked to far-right conspiracy theories, extremism, terrorism, and child abuse.

Before the app took a tougher stance against terrorism-related content, particularly in 2019 following the deadly London Bridge attack, it was a favourite platform for the Islamic State group. But experts warn it remains a breeding ground for propaganda.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, it has been repeatedly used by terrorists to spread their content.

Telegram and the “Russian World”

From UNIAN we will add what The Telegraph kept silent about. Pavel Durov’s messenger has become one of the main platforms for distributing anti-Ukrainian content from Russia. In particular, thousands of public channels operate freely here, the authors of which openly call for the destruction of the state of Ukraine and the genocide of the Ukrainian people, and also collect money to help the invading army of the Russian Federation. These are in particular the channels of such groups as “DShRG Rusich”, which do not hide their neo-Nazi ideology.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly complained that the Telegram administration ignores the Ukrainian government’s requests regarding anti-Ukrainian content.

Despite the fact that in the public sphere Durov has been given a reputation as a fighter against censorship and dictators, in reality Telegram has often made concessions to dictatorships and removed opposition content. This has happened in particular in Iran and Indonesia. The Telegram administration has imposed restrictions on the Russian opposition channel “Put Dombyt”, which is the mouthpiece of the movement of the wives of Russian soldiers and calls on the Kremlin to end the war. There are also numerous known cases of blocking small opposition channels associated with regional activists in Russia.

It is also worth recalling that in April, Telegram blocked the SBU and GUR chatbots, through which Ukrainians could report Russian occupiers. Only a day later, the chatbots were unblocked, probably due to pressure from the United States. At the same time, similar Russian chatbots, including fake ones that pretend to be Ukrainian chatbots, continue to operate freely.

Durov’s arrest in France: latest news

As UNIAN reported, on the evening of August 24, French intelligence services detained Pavel Durov when he stepped off his private jet onto the runway at Le Bourget Airport. French authorities accuse him of conniving with criminals who use Telegram to distribute illegal content related to violence, drugs, and child pornography.

A day later, the Telegram team responded to the detention of their boss for the first time . They assure that they adhere to the laws of the European Union, including the Digital Services Act. The statement notes that Telegram moderation complies with industry standards and is constantly being improved. The team added that they expect a quick resolution to this situation.

(C)UNIAN 2024