Pavel Durov, the founder of the popular messaging app, Telegram was recently arrested the moment he stepped out of his private jet by French police. But why? Is it because Telegram is too secure and private for the governments to keep an eye on the user base or because allegedly, there are illegal activities taking place on the platform? Let’s understand what’s happening here.
Who Is He
Pavel Durov is a Russian entrepreneur who founded VK (Facebook’s Russian counterpart), biggest social media site in the country. He then had to leave Russia after refusing to censor Alexei Navalny’s political page leading Kremlin-linked owners to go after him.
But that’s not what he is famous for. He went on to find Telegram, a ‘secure and private’ messaging app that has over a billion users. What is even more interesting is that Telegram doesn’t run ads and has only 30 employees working. Impressive.
The Arrest
Pavel Durov then got a dual citizenship in both France and UAE. The French citizenship seems to have backfired as he was arrested in France earlier the moment his private jet landed on the airport. Pavel, according to some reports, is facing up to 20 years in prison for money laundering, fraud, terrorism, and more.
Telegram is not your average messaging apps like WhatsApp. No, sir. It is so much more. For example, it has its own cryptocurrency called TON. Besides, you can also send other crypto tokens using Telegram. Now crypto has been under fire from law enforcement agencies and governments around the world for their borderless nature and the activities that they tend to be used for.
Telegram further caught attention after they removed the need to enter a valid phone number while creating an account. Almost all major messaging and social media apps require a verified phone number to register and use an account. Not only that, users can also buy a fake phone number using Fragment, a blockchain founded by Pavel Durov himself. This raises a lot of questions around safety and legality.
The French police says he was arrested because a ‘lack of moderation and cooperation with law enforcement’. Pavel Durov, on the other hand, says the agencies want a backdoor into the Telegram network.
The story is still developing.
But why? Just how private and encrypted Telegram really is?
How Private and Secure Telegram Is
Many people say that Telegram is uncensored and anything goes in their large channels and groups. However, that’s half truth. Telegram has to meet the App Store and Play Store guidelines, for example, if it was downloaded from there. Google and Apple app stores requires Telegram to censor and block a large variety of content on its platform in order to remain eligible to be listed. There is an option to download and install Telegram directly from Telegram.org site though.
What about E2EE or end-to-end encryption?
Well, Telegram is not exactly end-to-end encrypted which is why authorities know that there are some illegal activities happening on Telegram. Here is how Telegram’s E2EE works and what you need to know:
E2EE means all the message are encrypted and decrypted on-device and offline instead of a centralized server which is owned and controlled by a corporation. However, many things on Telegram are only partially encrypted meaning they are not end-to-end. If it is E2EE, no one but the sender and receiver can read the messages but authorities, law enforcement agencies, and companies can’t. Signal works exactly like this which is why it is recommended by many in the Silicon Valley.
End-to-end encryption in Telegram works only for private chats and that is not enabled by default. The rest is encrypted but only on the server – it is not end-to-end which is how it should be. It is precisely for this reason why security researchers have been breathing down on Telegram’s neck calling them out. But then if Telegram is not that secure then why are the authorities unhappy?
The reason is that the servers are distributed across the globe and in small and big countries where authorities can’t reach. International borders are a funny thing where the police or agents need to coordinate and gain permission of different countries to get their hands on the data. And because the servers are spread across the globe, taking down one server won’t really affect the app. Telegram will continue to work as designed.
Countries in the EU have been trying to ban encryption for good. In fact, there were leaked reports that Spain wants to ban E2EE making it illegal. Free speech advocates are crying foul for obvious reasons and the ban has been on hold since then.
There is a possibility that arresting the CEO of Telegram, an open advocate of free speech and the founder of one of the biggest messaging apps, is a strategic decision. Now he faces two choices – spend 20 years in jail or cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
