Telegram: Pavel Durov Responds to Russian Accusations and Denounces Mass Surveillance

Pavel Durov rejects the label of "terrorist" that Russia has just assigned to him. The founder of Telegram claims that Moscow is sanctioning him primarily for refusing mass surveillance and censorship on the platform.

In Brief

• Russia has placed Pavel Durov on its list of extremists and terrorists.
• The founder of Telegram denounces a sanction related to his refusal of mass surveillance.
• The conflict reignites the debate on privacy and state power over messaging services.

Pavel Durov reacted after being placed on the Russian list of extremists and terrorists. This decision extends the legal offensive launched against Telegram. Rosfinmonitoring added his name on July 30, a day after the announcement of prosecutions by the FSB for facilitating terrorist activities. Moscow claims that Ukrainian services have used Telegram to organize attacks in Russia.

The FSB also criticizes the messaging service for not removing certain channels, groups, and bots presented as linked to banned organizations. These elements remain accusations from the Russian authorities. They do not constitute established facts by an independent judicial decision.

Durov presents a completely different interpretation. According to him, the designation of "terrorist" punishes his refusal to submit Telegram to mass surveillance and political censorship. He also mocks the prohibition that would prevent him from publishing online. In his view, the Russian authorities confuse who can actually ban the other from the Internet.

The case now goes beyond simple content moderation. It raises a broader question. To what extent should a messaging service cooperate with a state when requests concern private exchanges, user identification, or the removal of political posts? Durov has long defended a strict line on this point. Telegram had already threatened to leave France rather than yield on encryption.

The platform believes that a backdoor created for authorities could also become a vulnerability exploitable by hackers or foreign services. This position does not erase the criticisms aimed at Telegram. The platform is regularly accused of allowing criminal or extremist content to circulate. But the Russian dossier adds an obvious political dimension. Moscow restricts access to the service while encouraging the use of state-supported solutions developed in a much more controlled environment.

The Kremlin claims not to have officially banned Telegram. However, access to the service has been significantly slowed down. Many Russian users now have to use a VPN. At the same time, the Russian presidency, the Ministry of Defense, and several high officials continue to post daily on the platform.

This dual usage shows why Telegram remains difficult to eliminate. The messaging service claims over a billion users worldwide. It also retains a central place in Russia, Ukraine, and several countries from the former USSR. It serves for private conversations, but also for political and military information.

The judicial pressure against Durov also extends beyond Russia. He remains under investigation in France following his arrest in 2024. Australia has also initiated proceedings regarding the removal of content related to terrorism. Durov denies the accusations and asserts that Telegram is already responding to valid legal requests.

This confrontation can also impact the economic ecosystem built around the platform. Telegram is no longer just a messaging app. Its bots, mini-applications, and services related to TON make it a digital infrastructure hosting payments, communities, and crypto products.

The outcome remains uncertain. But the case confirms that Pavel Durov is becoming a geopolitical actor as much as a technology entrepreneur. As Cointribune already pointed out in its analysis presenting the CEO of Telegram as a geopolitical hostage, every pressure against the platform now surpasses its founder. It directly concerns privacy, the flow of information, and control of the Internet.