From presidential ties to organized crime: France debates Telegram founder Pavel Durov's case

RU

How are the charges being received in France?

Pavel Durov, who was released on bail in late August, admitted that the charges by French authorities surprised him “for several reasons.” According to Durov, Telegram has an official representative in the EU who responds to requests, and if there were any claims against Telegram, French authorities could have filed a lawsuit against the company rather than targeting its founder. Earlier, Durov’s lawyer, Olivier-David Kaminski, stated that Telegram complies with all European regulations and that “it is absurd to think that the head of a social network could be involved in crimes that neither directly nor indirectly concern him.”

However, such statements are of interest primarily to foreign media. In France, Durov's story hardly draws attention, overshadowed by a domestic political crisis and the opening of the Paralympic Games. For most French citizens — and even journalists — Durov is seen simply as an entrepreneur of Russian origin, and the media have focused largely on his past relationship with the Russian authorities, quoting Russian public figures ranging from Navalny associate Georgy Alburov to former caretaker president Dmitry Medvedev.

Despite the relative lack of attention paid to them, the charges against Durov in France are significant. This is an unprecedented case involving the founder of a social network, and there are many doubts surrounding the accusations of Durov’s complicity in users’ abuse of the platform. For example, in a Mediapart article, lawyer Johan Noba emphasizes that “criminal law operates on the principle of personal liability” and that “complicity implies intent.”

However, most French commentators do not raise such concerns. In general, the public discussion has focused on the fundamental difference between Telegram and other major platforms — namely its refusal to cooperate with law enforcement. “They don’t respond to letters, they ignore subpoenas, and they don’t even have a legal representative in court. Meanwhile, Facebook, Twitter, and others have well-known lawyers in Paris,” explains Alexandre Lazarègue, a lawyer specializing in digital law. According to cybersecurity researcher Michel Sejean, Telegram’s refusal to cooperate with law enforcement means it has agreed “to become a platform for organized crime.”

How is Durov connected to Macron?

For French prosecutors, holding Pavel Durov accountable was relatively straightforward, as he has been a French citizen since 2021 — a fact that came to light by chance through his own social media post. Apparently, Durov received French citizenship as a “distinguished foreigner” — an exceptional process, as noted by Le Monde, which investigated his citizenship story. Such decisions are often political, with the assumption that the applicant personally appeals to the president of the republic. Durov’s case appears to be no exception.

In theory, a petitioner must meet several criteria, including knowledge of the French language. According to TF1, Durov did not meet these requirements. However, after Le Monde published its article in 2023, Telegram provided the newspaper with a certificate showing that Durov had passed a language exam (B1 level, scoring 92.5 out of 100).

A Telegram spokesperson stressed that Durov obtained citizenship without any special privileges. French President Emmanuel Macron echoed this claim on August 29 during his visit to Serbia, stating that the decision to grant Durov citizenship was justified and that Durov had made efforts to learn French. However, it remains unclear if he succeeded. According to TV5, citing a source close to the investigation, Durov communicated in English during his questioning.

It is also known that Pavel Durov and Emmanuel Macron have been personally acquainted since at least 2018. It was then, during a dinner, that Durov reportedly requested French citizenship. It is likely that the possibility of relocating Telegram's headquarters to France was also discussed at that meeting, but Durov declined. From 2018 until he was granted citizenship in 2021, Durov and Macron met several more times, according to Le Monde, though Macron's team insists there were only one or two meetings.

In principle, there is nothing unusual about Macron meeting with heads of major tech companies. At various times, he has met with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and others. The difference is that, unlike these meetings, which were officially part of the president's schedule, the meetings with Durov were held secretly.

It was also reported by Le Canard enchaîné that Pavel Durov might have flown to Paris for a similar secret dinner with the president on August 24, the day of his detention. While the satirical publication is known for humor, leaks, and scandalous investigations, there may have been some truth to this particular story. After Durov's release under judicial supervision, it was revealed that during his detention, he asked the authorities to contact Xavier Niel, a French billionaire closely connected to the circle of major businessmen allied with the French president.

What do the French know about Telegram?

The exact number of French people who have installed Telegram is unknown. Estimates suggest between 1 million and 7.5 million of them use the messenger.

In 2015, Pavel Durov drew attention for stating that the French government bore as much responsibility as the Islamic State did for terrorist attacks in Paris, as it had financed pointless wars and created a “parasitic social paradise for North African immigrants.” At that time, French media already referred to Durov as the creator of the messenger used by ISIS, criticizing him for not blocking terrorist channels in a timely manner. Back then, Telegram, which was not yet widely used in France, had earned a reputation as the preferred messaging platform for jihadists.

In 2016, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve initiated efforts to compel Telegram to assist in terrorism investigations. The criticisms directed at the platform's leadership were nearly identical to the current accusations: illegal content was being disseminated on the app, and its representatives were not cooperating with law enforcement.

After Durov's arrest, it was revealed that since 2017, he had been under surveillance by French intelligence. The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2017, the intelligence services of France and the UAE had jointly hacked the iPhone of Telegram’s founder because the platform was being used by Islamic State terrorists. Later, however, there were reports that Durov had testified in court claiming he was cooperating with French intelligence.

By the late 2010s, the terrorist threat was no longer perceived as being acute, and attitudes toward Telegram began to shift. The app started gaining popularity among the French political class, with even the president and his entourage using the messenger. However, its famed anonymity continued to cause problems. As information about internal communications within the ruling party leaked to the media and fake party accounts popped up, efforts to address these issues proved largely ineffective.

As a result, Telegram (along with other publicly available messengers) came to be seen as unreliable. By the end of 2023, French ministers were required to move all communications to the French-developed messenger Olvid.

Macronistan and Pedoland: Conspiracy theorists rally to defend Durov

In his first comment regarding Pavel Durov's arrest, Emmanuel Macron stated that the decision to detain the tech entrepreneur was not political and that France is “more committed to freedom of speech and communication than anyone else.” However, not everyone in France agrees with the president. Many active users of Telegram — conspiracy theorists, pro-Russian propagandists, and far-right radicals among them — hold a different view.

“In the so-called country of human rights, this action looks like a desperate attempt to intimidate those who refuse to submit to NATO's diktat,” writes Léonard Sojli on the ADNM channel (47,000 subscribers). Sojli, a former QAnon supporter, founded his own conspiracy community and media outlet and is a proponent of the “deep state” theory. He referred to the coronavirus pandemic as a “plandemic” and called France “Pedoland.”

And Sojli is far from alone. Pavel Durov’s arrest looks “like a political tactic by the authorities to pressure encryption and the secrecy of data exchange (for our own good, of course),” writes media provocateur and political commentator Alexis Poulin (26,000 Telegram subscribers), who is considered both far-left and far-right. France Soir (28,000 subscribers), which recently lost its status as an online media outlet after spreading fake news, writes that the head of Telegram “is being criticized primarily for his intransigence on issues of user privacy and for refusing to cooperate with investigative authorities.”

Even Sputnik France, which was blocked and shut down in the country, joined the discourse. On its Telegram channel (10,000 subscribers), it quotes not only Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials Sergey Lavrov and Maria Zakharova, but also a Malian analyst, Abdoul Diallo, who warns Durov:

“Whatever pressure is put on you in your country, restrain yourself and do not trust those you consider defenders of human rights. Human rights do not exist; they are a double standard.”

Finally, far-right French politician Florian Philippot urged Durov to flee judicial oversight and reveal the whole truth about Macron: “Let Pavel Durov give a big interview to shame Macron, crush him, make him run away! Leaving France via land borders will be easy. Let him leave Macronistan and defend freedom of speech outside of France!” Yet, for some reason, Pavel Durov has not been in a hurry to follow this advice.