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The arrest of Telegram's founder has aroused anxiety among Russian propagandists and united them in their hostility to the West.
On the evening of August 24, Pavel Durov, the creator and CEO of the Telegram instant messaging platform, was arrested at the French airport Le Bourget. In France, Durov is accused of being an accomplice to drug trafficking, crimes against children, and fraud due to the lack of moderation on Telegram.
In November of 2021, Durov became a French citizen. In 2022, he asked Forbes magazine to list him as a French citizen rather than a Russian entrepreneur when compiling rankings of the wealthiest people. Durov also reportedly holds passports from the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Following Durov's arrest, Telegram's press service said that neither the app nor Durov himself had broken the law and that users were responsible for spreading illegal content:
"It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for abusing this platform. Nearly a billion users worldwide use Telegram as a means of communication and a source of important information," reads the company's statement.
Although, as Tetiana Avdeeva, Senior Lawyer at the Digital Security Lab, explained in a comment to Detector Media, it is the owners of instant messaging platforms and social networks who are responsible for preventing the spread of child pornography, drugs, disinformation, etc. in the EU. This is a continuation of the EU's systemic policy of regularly fining digital companies for non-compliance with content moderation rules – as was the case with TikTok and Facebook (Meta) in 2023, when the respective platforms violated privacy rules or failed to protect underage users from certain types of content.
In the fall of 2023, Telegram was the main news source for 76% of Internews survey respondents in Ukraine. For Ukrainians, along with the news, Telegram channels are one of the main sources of false information. The reason is that their authors do not adhere to the reporting standards. And the platform, by presenting the lack of information moderation as promoting freedom of speech, makes life easier for propagandists and criminals.
Despite claims of independence and denials of cooperation with government agencies, Telegram has repeatedly complied with Russian court rulings and restricted access to certain information. For instance, it restricted access to posts in Belarus and limited the app's functionality in Iran. It labeled the Telegram channel of the wives of Russian mobilized soldiers as fake and deleted Telegram channels reporting on protests in Bashkortostan. In 2021, when Moscow authorities forced the company to block the "smart voting" service as political campaigning on the day of the State Duma elections, Pavel Durov justified his concessions to the Russian authorities by saying that he was "taking care of users."
"Allowing the blocking of Telegram for all Russians to give a political party two extra days to campaign after the elections have already started is like sacrificing a queen for a pawn on a chessboard without a clear winning strategy. For me, the interests of hundreds of millions of Telegram users will always be incomparably more important than the interests of any political force".
Thus, despite the claims that the platform does not transmit data to security agencies and is reliably protected by end-to-end encryption, experts have reason to believe that Telegram is selectively independent. Durov himself calls reports of Telegram's cooperation with the Russian authorities "rumors that benefit competitors."
"They will force him to cooperate"
Russian propaganda came to Durov's defense in response to his arrest in France, apparently forgetting that Russia has been trying to block Telegram for several years, with the formal reason being Durov's alleged refusal to cooperate with the FSB to arrest "terrorists and extremists." Now, Russian propaganda writes that the platform is not guilty of the crimes committed by its users and that this is a "purely political game."
"Telegram's founder was taken hostage for something that literally every modern messaging app is guilty of... Obviously, the charges are a mere formality. The detention of the millionaire and founder of Telegram is being used both for political purposes and to control the app," wrote a Russian Telegram channel with almost 719,000 subscribers.
Their concern is not that Durov, in cooperation with the French police, may provide data on those suspected of breaking the law but that the confidentiality of Russian officials' may be violated.
"Russian officials have been instructed to delete official correspondence on Telegram... Earlier, after the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov at the Paris airport, French media quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that French security agencies would seek access to Telegram communications related to criminal networks, as well as sanctioned companies and individuals," a Russian Telegram channel with nearly 1.6 million subscribers wrote.
"All unauthorized, classified communications on Telegram, especially those related to the special operation zone, must stop shortly. It is obvious that now any data, including classified data, can now fall into the hands of European security agencies," wrote another Russian Telegram channel with 718,000 subscribers.
A propaganda Telegram channel with 620,000 subscribers added that "access to correspondence by Western intelligence agencies can certainly mean access to sensitive information for the Russian Armed Forces."
A Moldovan pro-Russian Telegram channel advised subscribers to make backup copies of their correspondence, as "Telegram servers in the United States and Amsterdam may be seized as part of the investigation against Durov. Your privacy will most likely not be affected (everything is encrypted), but it is easy to lose photos and correspondence forever." Propagandists resort to intimidating their readers.
"Isn't this the greatest tragedy of August?"
Russian "war correspondents" (in quotes, because actually they are propagandists - "DM") are even more worried about Durov's arrest because, as a Telegram channel with 18,000 subscribers wrote, "the chief of communications of the Russian Armed Forces has been arrested" in Le Bourget.
The propagandist with 38,000 subscribers called the problems faced by the Russian military due to Durov's arrest "the main problem of August." According to him, Telegram is "the basis of military communication; Telegram is a powerful information resource that is an alternative to the official one and, of course, more efficient; Telegram is the main civilian instant messaging platform in Russia, practically uncontrolled by Western intelligence agencies, as well as the most powerful advertising resource and platform for personal blogs."
Another Russian "political analyst" with 188,000 subscribers called Telegram "the main instant messaging platform of the current war” and “an alternative to closed military communications.”
“Telegram has now become almost the principal means of controlling units in the special military operation zone (on both sides of the front)... It will be both quite sad and funny if the arrest of Pavel Durov becomes a catalyst for changes in the approach to communication and management in the Russian Armed Forces. Not the problems of a strictly military nature that have accumulated over the past two years, to which the relevant department for some reason preferred to turn a blind eye,” wrote a war correspondent with 1.3 million subscribers.
"Durov walked into a trap when he refused to be Russian"
Russian propagandists who disseminate information to foreign audiences have used Durov's arrest to accuse the West of being "treacherous."
"For Durov, European citizenship has become not a letter of protection, but a sword of Damocles... Vladimir Putin warned Russians about the nature of liberal regimes and against placing their companies and assets in NATO countries," RT quoted Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.
With quotes like "Russia does not abandon its people," the propagandists constructed for their audience a worldview in which those who oppose the regime or try to obtain citizenship of another state are "traitors" and "turncoats". Durov has several citizenships, but these states are unlikely to stand up for him, as stated in a propaganda Telegram channel with almost 974,000 subscribers. And then it quotes an "expert" who says:
"It turns out that Pavel Durov can rely on no one but Russia. But to do that, you must make a difficult decision and answer the question: who are you, and on whose side are you?"
The Russian singer-propagandist Shaman offered Durov a "loophole" to undo all his troubles:
"Pasha, my dear! Only in Russia can you breathe freely and easily. Come back home. Here we remember you, love you, and always wait for you," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Quotes with a similar message from the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, were also shared on Telegram. A channel with 71,000 subscribers shared Medvedev's recollection of a conversation with Durov. While talking, the entrepreneur expressed a "firm position" to not cooperate with the Russian authorities. And Medvedev promised that such stubbornness would cause Durov "problems everywhere."
"For all our common enemies, he is now a Russian – and therefore unpredictable and dangerous. He is of a different blood. Clearly, not Musk or Zuckerberg (who, by the way, is actively cooperating with the FBI). Durov must finally realize that one does not choose one's homeland, just as one does not choose the times one lives in," reads Medvedev's Telegram channel, which has 1.3 million subscribers.
"The world government is trying to lock everyone into an information ghetto"
Some Telegram channels, such as a pro-Russian channel with 208,000 subscribers, noted:
"As for Pasha Durov, this case against him is another nail in the coffin of the rule-based world. It is also a great advertisement against French citizenship for all progressive people in the positive sense of the word (not LGBT activists and Sorosians)."
It is, however, unclear how the investigation and public trial of the owner of one of the instant messaging platforms can "undermine the world order."
"It's shocking to read nonsense like 'With the arrest of Durov, the West has put the last nail in the coffin of democracy and freedom of speech.' The last nail? Are you serious? What about the anti-Russian censorship of Facebook and YouTube? And the banning of Russian media in the United States and Europe? And do you remember Julian Assange?" wrote a propagandist who has 3.1 million subscribers on Telegram, responding to his colleagues' posts about the "death of freedom of speech."
"France as the epitome of freedom died in the 20th century," wrote a Crimean Telegram channel with 10,000 subscribers that supports the Russian occupation.
The Telegram channel of a propaganda media outlet with almost 459,000 subscribers quoted an expert who expanded the thesis of Durov's arrest in a more conspiratorial way:
"Durov overestimated the charm of Western democracy. And this gullibility got him into trouble. Pavel Durov's arrest may have been ordered by the deep state, which Russia opposes, while France and its security agency are carrying out this order and doing it in good faith. Of course, they will hire the best lawyers and launch a support campaign on Telegram, but it will be up to the people who ordered the arrest, not ordinary users, to decide."
The author of the article mentioned the conspiracy theory of the existence of a Deep State, a conspiracy of influential people who control states or international organizations from behind the scenes.
"Anyone who dares to resist the demands of the world masters in any way will be punished. Pavel Durov got arrested not because he broke the law but because he refused to cooperate with the powers that be. Now it is no longer an exaggeration to say that the worst crime we can commit is to want freedom of speech and information," a quote from Bulgarian MEP Petar Volgin, who previously spread Russian disinformation, was quoted in a propaganda Telegram channel with 1.3 million subscribers.
Unlike in Russia, where war correspondents flee Telegram while officials purge their correspondence, Durov's arrest has allegedly increased the instant messaging platform’s popularity in the West, other propagandists write.
"The arrest, or rather the hostage-taking by the French security agency of Pavel Durov for refusing to cooperate, has created a real storm among Western supporters of Internet freedom. They rightly see Telegram as one of the few islands not controlled by any state. It is one of the largest instant messaging platforms where you can hide from Big Brother," wrote a Telegram channel with 718,000 subscribers.
However, open data cannot confirm the information about the surge in Telegram downloads. According to the Priori Data portal, at the beginning of January 2024, Telegram ranked the world's seventh most downloaded app by yearly downloads. And in March, according to Statista, it was the fifth most downloaded app of the month.
The Telegram channel of another Russian propagandist, with 1.3 million subscribers, shared an interview with a "columnist" who also spoke about the "political" case against Durov:
"The situation with the arrest of Pavel Durov looks purely political. Firstly, according to the EU's Digital Services Act, a social network or online platform operator is responsible for any content posted. However, it does not provide for personal or criminal liability; the law only provides for liability of the provider as a legal entity, and the sanctions are exclusively economic".
The "expert" says the arrest is necessary for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is "playing nice" with the United States.
"Therefore, it makes no sense to discuss the intentions of the French authorities who arrested him because they have nothing to do with it," Georgy Lobushkin, who was called Durov's former press secretary by pro-Russian Telegram channels, said about the "US request for Durov's arrest." To convince the audience that the US was to blame, Lobushkin expressed doubt France had any problems with Durov. After all, he "complies with the laws of all countries" and blocks Russian propaganda publications in the West.
Russian "opposition" calls on the French to fight for #FreedomForDurov
The arrest of Pavel Durov prompted criticism from entrepreneurs and bloggers such as Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson. Russian politicians also launched digital "protests." For example, one of the leaders of Russia's New People party, Alexander Nechayev (with 3100 subscribers on Telegram), participated in a protest near the French embassy in Moscow. There, Durov's fans folded paper airplanes in front of the diplomatic institution and called on the French opposition to fight for freedom of speech in France – the same airplanes were once launched by Russian citizens when Telegram was being blocked in Russia.
"The arrest of an entrepreneur who fights for user privacy is a dangerous precedent. If the situation ends in a trial and a prison sentence, anyone who does not hand over user correspondence at the first request of the security agencies can be arrested on such grounds. This is not the world we want to live in," said a message about the rally at the French embassy on a Russian "war correspondent's" Telegram channel with 781,000 subscribers.
Meanwhile, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote that human rights activists were too little concerned about Durov's arrest:
"It's been almost twenty-four hours since Pavel Durov was arrested. Where is everyone? Where are the letters? Where is all the criticism? Where is all their concern? There is nothing," Zakharova said. She later added that Western human rights organizations allegedly use "double standards" when it comes to regulating Telegram. For example, when the so-called Yarovaya package came into force in Russia (which included restrictions on the Russian segment of the Internet and the expansion of Roskomnadzor's regulatory functions), international human rights organizations condemned the decision of the Russian courts. And now, instead of "appealing to official Paris," human rights activists, according to Zakharova, "have swallowed their tongues."
Among the political forces in France that the Russians allegedly approached to demand the "release of Durov," the propagandists named the right-wing National Rally political party, led by Marine Le Pen, and the left-wing La France Insoumise and its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Both Le Pen and Mélenchon have repeatedly voiced a few useful to Russian propaganda theses and have had ties to Russia. However, although their political parties are represented in parliament, they have the power to change their countries' law enforcement and judicial systems only through changes in legislation. And none of these parties have yet brought their supporters onto the French streets to protest over Durov.
The arrest of Pavel Durov in France has caused alarm among propaganda Telegram channels, raising fears that Western security agencies could gain access to messages from Russian officials and propagandists. The possible restriction of Telegram could destroy the established approaches to disinforming Ukrainians. The popularity of the instant messaging platform and the complete lack of regulation for Telegram channels in Ukraine make it convenient for propagandists to use the app to spread disinformation.
On their Telegram channels, propagandists used Durov's arrest in France to persuade or intimidate subscribers critical of the government. They presented Durov's renunciation of Russian citizenship and "his lack of patriotism" as one of the reasons for his arrest in France. They said, "Russia does not abandon its people," but "France, the United Arab Emirates or St. Kitts and Nevis does."
Main page illustration credits: Natalia Lobach
