HAVANA, Cuba.- This Saturday, the 24th, the news was made about the arrest, at a Parisian airport, of Pavel Durov, founder of the instant messaging platform Telegram. About the young executive (whom some call “the Russian Mark Zuckerberg” and whom Forbes (which attributes a fortune of 15.5 billion dollars to him) are accused of fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering, promoting terrorism and sexual abuse of minors.
The responsibility of the businessman of Russian origin would arise from tolerating that the authors of all this series of antisocial activities take advantage of the encryption of messages in Telegram to plot their respective crimes. Durov’s lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, argued that “the accusations were comparable to blaming a car manufacturer for accidents or for using those vehicles to commit crimes.”
The comparison is not unreasonable. But I must confess that, although he is not a lawyer, I prefer the one posted on his Facebook wall by Alexander Podrabínek. The great pro-democracy fighter, writing from Moscow, asks himself: “Should Durov censor correspondence?” And he himself answers: “According to this logic, telephone companies should listen to their customers’ conversations and prevent any illegality.” And he ends with another key question: “Is this normal in a democracy?”
A decade ago, Pavel was forced to leave his home country after refusing the Putin dictatorship’s demand that he close Russian opposition accounts and provide data to the FSB (the heir to the infamous Soviet political police KGB). Telegram was banned in Russia when the company refused to hand over its encryption keys to the FSB.
So far, nothing unusual: the Eurasian giant, under Vladimir Putin, suffers from a ferocious dictatorship. It is a regime capable of unleashing a brutal war of aggression against neighbouring Ukraine (although, of course, it prohibits its subjects from calling it that, since it forces them to use the euphemism “special military operation” to describe it). Or that, in the middle of this month, it sentenced a dancer to 12 years in prison for donating 15 dollars to a Ukrainian humanitarian organisation…
“It was not a political decision”
But France is supposed to be something else. It is rightly considered a democratic state… Some have even called it “the country of human rights”. (I must say that I disagree with this designation. I do not forget that when France was still groaning under the influence of the French, Ancien Régimeits great writers of the Enlightenment looked with longing towards England, which already enjoyed democratic institutions and freedom of the press). But it does deserve another honourable title: that of “country of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
President Emmanuel Macron was quick to assure that the arrest of the businessman of Russian origin (who, by the way, has French nationality among other things) “was in no way a political decision.” And on the social network X (before Twitter) He described the nation he presides over as “deeply committed” to freedom of expression.
Of course, authoritarians have not missed the opportunity to attack free countries. For example, we can mention that, according to AP“Russian officials expressed anger at Durov’s arrest, with some highlighting what they see as a double standard in the West when it comes to freedom of expression.” In other words, the same dictatorial regime that persecuted and banned him is now seeking to set itself up as the persecuted businessman’s protector.
From truly democratic countries, some wonder why Telegram (or other similar platforms, for that matter) cannot monitor communications between its members. Why not delete messages that, say, involve child pornography or drug trafficking?
The big problem lies —I believe— in the difference between generally supervising and censoring communications that are issued within a network, and complying with specific orders that may be issued by authorities of a country to intercept specific messages that may be criminal in nature (something that —I believe— neither Telegram nor could any other network reasonably refuse).
Reactions to the arrest
But others are expressing general opposition to the move. Elon Musk, the owner of Xcompared the arrest to “being executed for giving I like to a meme.” Chris Pavlovski, CEO of Rumble Videocommented that France had crossed “a red line” by arresting Durov “for not censoring freedom of expression.” And the leftist Spanish daily The Countryin the title of the information provided about the arrest, describes the businessman as “the champion of freedom who faces prison.”
In essence, this coincides with what is proposed InfobaeAccording to the prestigious Buenos Aires-based digital newspaper, Mr. Pavel has maintained “a staunch defense of freedom of expression and online privacy.” He holds “strong opinions on the decentralization of the Internet and resistance to state surveillance.”
The news from Paris is not reassuring. At this point, it is not just a police decision. A judicial authority has already intervened in the matter. According to its announced decision, Durov’s detention will be extended for the time being to 96 hours from the date of his arrest. Only then will it be decided whether he will remain in prison or be released.
The Country recalls some statements made by Durov less than a fortnight ago, but which are especially timely to remember today: “When I turned 11 in 1995, I made a promise to myself to become smarter, stronger and freer every day. Today Telegram He is 11 years old and is ready to make that same promise.” Let us hope that this promise does not have to be fulfilled by means of Don Pavel’s prolonged imprisonment.
