Background
Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, was arrested in France last month. His arrest came as a surprise because there was no prior awareness or declaration of want or pronouncement of warrant of arrest.
It was unexpected news that took the world by surprise.
He was arrested after his private jet touched down in France, giving the impression that his arrest was long planned by the French authorities.
Pavel Durov is a Russian citizen who fled Russia as a result of dictatorship. He is also a French citizen, and the office of his Telegram is located in Dubai.
Telegram chose to relocate to Dubai to enable it to function without interference. Since the company was relocated to Dubai, it has enjoyed smooth running of business until the arrest of its CEO last month.
Since Pavel was arrested, Telegran has rather garnered more downloads, and the company boasted of over 900 million users prior to the arrest of the CEO.
The arrest of Pavel may have attracted more users to the social media platform that is believed to be the most secure messaging app in the world and now has 50 million more users.
It was expected that as soon as the CEO was arrested that users would abandon the messaging app, but it proved otherwise, racking up more users to the disbelief of analysts.
It has also been argued if the arrest of the CEO poses any risk to the app, but that remains a question time and developments will answer.
Bail
The Telegram CEO was given a bail in the tune of millions of dollars, yet other concessions that led to his bail were not disclosed.
The authority that arrested him did for a purpose, and in real time, bail cannot be quickly given if investigators are still pushing for something. Did they find something?
What the investigators were pushing for was achieved, but it’s still shrewd in mystery. The activities going on on Telegram want to be assessed by the investigators, and if the investigators had their way, then there is a legitimate concern.
What Distinguished Telegram
Telegram is believed to be the most trusted end-to-end encrypted messaging app in the world, as it doesn’t censor contents or interfere with users.
The app is said to be the hub of free speech, where users are free to discuss what pleases them with their privacies respected. The app allows documents, videos, photos, and messages.
The app is also built in a form that can conceal the identity of users, allowing users to make use of any user name they wish while concealing their numbers.
This presents the users with the opportunity to freely go about their communications with the understanding that they are secured by every means possible.
The messaging app has been dubbed the hub of free speech but also seen as a safe haven for everything possible, ranging from fraud and all types of illegal activities.
When there is a safe haven for global discourse and connection, it could be taken advantage of by terrorists, traffickers, and criminals on all levels to freely facilitate crimes.
For instance, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has seen communication maintained through Telegram, and classified information and high risk discourse could be held via Telegram without being monitored.
Unlike Facebook, Whatsapp, X, and other messaging platforms, illegal activities are monitored and backdoor access given to the security institutions to stem the tide of crime in the world.
Telegram is the opposite of everything other social media and messaging apps are all about.
Without giving security institutions a backdoor to monitor criminal activities and identify threats, especially from terrorists across the globe, the app presents itself as the darling of criminals but also the darling of privacy, which is lacking in today’s social media world.
Pavel’s Arrest
The arrest of Pavel Durov underlines the willingness of European countries to find out what is happening behind them.
France is aware of the fact that Russia has been using Telegram to pass sensitive messages regarding the war in Ukraine. It is also aware that Ukraine has been using the app to also propagate its hallowed defense from uncalled and unjustified Russian aggression.
Now, the arrest has happened, and Europe would like to take a look at everything going on on Telegram. They would want to know what needs to be known and would ultimately demand access to scrutinize everything going on on Telegram since it was launched.
Telegram users might be at risk of their privacies being broken and jeopardized henceforth because the CEO of the messaging app will be subjected to questions and concessions must be made that led to his freedom.
The arrest has been dubbed a war against freedom of speech by X owner Elon Musk, who is also battling with institutions on abiding by the laws guiding the use of X in Europe.
The idea that the arrest of the Telegram CEO is politically motivated and an attack on free speech was rejected by the French government.
Reason for Arrest
The government said that the CEO is wanted by investigators who are investigating numerous illegal activities going on via Telegram and sought to know why the messaging app has failed to tame or control the illegal activities, ranging from terrorism to fraud.
Russia had indicated interest and had begun making diplomatic inroads to secure the release of the CEO and also to ensure he is not subjected to any form of degrading treatment. His eventual bail was not due to Russian interest.
The move is important as the app is more popular in Russia than any other country. Russia is also afraid that the West could have access to Russians if given access to the nucleus of the app.
Users Fate
Telegram users are now at risk of being declassified or losing their privileges because the app is now under investigation.
The CEO of Telegram must surrender the privacies of Telegram users to enable investigators to take a look to determine the accusations levied against the CEO.
So, Telegram users must take notice of this and understand deleting private messages they would want to remain private is important. Although it is unclear if deleting messages would solve the problem, as the backend of the app may retain deleted messages.
Having known the risk involved in continuing to use Telegram for private messages, users must desist from further sharing of private messages until the matter is resolved and Pavel Durov acquitted and all investigations closed.
Conclusion
The CEO was kept behind bars until the investigation was concluded and an indictment filed against him. The matter will be decided in a court of law, which would be slow and time consuming.
Bail is always the first victory for the defendant.
The investigators will like to have access to the backend of the app to be able to prove its case, and while Telegram remains firm that it has committed no crime, it won’t bar investigators from checking the backend of the app to prove its innocence.
By checking the backend of the app, the app user privacy, which is the hallmark of Telegram, will be affected massively.
But it is unclear if the Telegram CEO will give the investigators access or if he could approach the law court for interpretation. The matter will be clearer in weeks and months to come.
