Telegram CEO Arrested: Attack on Free Speech or Crime Prevention?

This blog will walk you through the ins and outs of the recent arrest of the CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov.

Preface

A couple of days ago, news broke that the CEO of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France upon the landing of his private plane. According to multiple sources, the CEO of Telegram and Telegram Web, Pavel Durov, was arrested at the Le Bourget airport just outside Paris on Saturday.

The Reason Behind the Arrest of Telegram Web CEO Pavel Durov

After the news of the arrest broke, initially it was rather unclear why the arrest was made: however, as time went by, the reason turned out to be related to crimes being committed due to the lack of moderation of Telegram. After that, some people like Elon Musk were quick to say this is an attack on free speech while others pointed out that criminal use of Telegram must be acquitted and dealt with as quickly as possible.

The investigation into Telegram, Telegram Web, and Pavel Durov is supposedly led by the national anti-fraud police unit in France.

According to the President of France Emmanuel Macron, the arrest has no political motive, however, some say that the arrest could be the result of a probe into the activities of people that have been using Telegram.

According to Reuters, the arrest was made as a result of an investigation in complicity in various crimes including Telegram and Telegram Web acting as possible platforms that allow illicit transactions, child pornography, drug trafficking, fraud, and providing cryptography-based services to criminals that may have been using the platform. According to reports, Telegram and Telegram Web’s refusal to collaborate with law enforcement authorities is also under the radar, which may act as fuel for people saying that the arrest is an attack on free speech to begin with.

According to Edward Snowden, the arrest of Pavel Durov was “an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association” too, but is that really the case?

Telegram and Telegram Web for Questionable Purposes

There’s no denying that both Telegram and Telegram Web were used for questionable purposes. Since the maximum number of people that can be in a single group in Telegram is 200,000 and given that Telegram puts measures in place to encrypt communications, it’s easy to assume why authorities may give Telegram and Telegram Web a stark look. In such an environment, misinformation spreads quickly, and filtering users who are involved in illicit activities is way harder.

There have also been rumors of Telegram and Telegram Web being used for war purposes (e.g. to share war-related information), but such claims remain to be verified.

However, whatever is the case, should the CEO of a company be held liable if an application developed by that company is used by shady individuals? Controlling everyone who uses Telegram or Telegram Web is next to impossible and intercepting individual messages could be seen as an invasion of privacy too.

However, according to authorities, with Telegram and Telegram Web being as it is is enough to arrest its CEO, Pavel Durov. It’s still early days and it remains to be disclosed what will happen to Pavel Durov as a result of his involvement with Telegram and Telegram Web, however, critics say that an arrest of Pavel Durov is equal to being arrested for sharing a meme.

Combating Cybercrime – The Role of BreachDirectory

To combat cybercrime, though, there are multiple tools you can put to use. One of them is BreachDirectory – both the BreachDirectory API and its data breach search engine are good starting points for those who want to secure themselves on the web.

Image 1 – BreachDirectory Data Breach Search Engine

The BreachDirectory API will help you implement the data within BreachDirectory into your own infrastructure, while the BreachDirectory data breach search engine will act as a good starting point for those who want to secure their own accounts on the web. When a search is completed, the data breach search engine will inform users whether their accounts are compromised, what data is stolen, and how the data breach occurred allowing them to better protect themselves from identity theft.

If you’re not already using BreachDirectory, start using the data breach search engine today – you won’t regret it.

Summary

The arrest of the Telegram and Telegram Web CEO Pavel Durov is not great news for the cybersecurity world. The police see the situation from the lens of “he allowed criminals to communicate through his platform, so we have to take action” while critics say that such actions by the police may be equal to arresting someone for posting a meme. What are your thoughts on this situation? Let BreachDirectory know in the comment section below, and until next time.