The big social media story of the weekend was the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was detained upon arrival in Paris on Saturday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into Telegram’s role in permitting illegal behavior to spread through Telegram chats.
Telegram, which does not use end-to-end encryption by default for its chats, has been investigated for failing to follow moderation guidelines to curb illegal conduct in the app, as well as refusing to cooperate with law authorities on related investigations.
However, because Telegram’s discussions are not encrypted, investigators have complete access to the information shared in Telegram groups and chats. So they know the extent of illegal activity on the program, which Telegram has reportedly refused to address despite warnings from authorities.
As a result, Durov has been detained, but free speech advocates hope to use this as an example of government overreach and political censorship, framing Telegram as the victim of a “censorship industrial complex” campaign to silence dissenting opinion to their preferred narratives.
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When, in reality, it appears that Telegram’s decision not to encrypt its chats and give better security for users has resulted in this new step.
Does this imply that equal levels of illegal activity are occurring in completely encrypted apps such as WhatsApp?
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Probably, but because it’s encrypted, authorities have no way of detecting or enforcing it either way. Telegram’s insufficient privacy controls have drawn more scrutiny, with EU officials now aiming to target a main source of illegal activity, most likely with extensive proof.
However, conservative groups are dismissing Durov’s detention as an attack on free speech, owing to the fact that they have also shifted to Telegram for their personal discussions.
Back in 2021, X founder Elon Musk, who has since become one of the world’s most influential conservative commentators, advised his followers to “Use Signal” as their messaging app of choice due to concerns that WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, was sharing information from people’s private chats. There is no evidence that WhatsApp encryption is insecure, but as part of his long-running feud with Meta and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Musk believed Signal was a better alternative.
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