After the arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram is in limbo

“The relationship between civil society and Telegram has been complicated over the years,” says Natalia Krapiva, a lawyer at the digital rights group Access Now. “We have defended Telegram against attempts by authoritarian regimes to block the platform and force it to hand over encryption keys, but we have also raised the alarm about Telegram's lack of human rights policies, its lack of a reliable communication channel and its lack of legal recourse for its users.” Krapiva stresses that French authorities may try to force Durov to hand over Telegram's encryption keys to decrypt private messages, “which Russia has already tried to do in the past.”

The hashtag #FreePavel has spread online, including via X CEO Elon Musk, who has posted about Durov's arrest several times. “POV: It's 2030 in Europe and you're being executed for liking a meme,” he wrote Saturday night in response to a post about the Telegram CEO's imprisonment. “The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. president on Friday, wrote on X, where he described Telegram as “uncensored” and “encrypted.”

Although Telegram is often described as an encrypted messaging app, messages are not end-to-end encrypted by default. Executives previously told WIRED that they view the platform as a social network. This is largely due to Channels – a one-to-many broadcast feature that allows an unlimited number of subscribers to view posts.

One of the posts that resonated most on X was from right-wing former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson, who alluded to the oft-repeated but disputed story that Durov left Russia because the government was trying to take over his company. “But at the end of the day, it wasn't Putin who arrested him for allowing the public free speech. It was a Western country,” Carlson wrote in a post that has been viewed at least 5.7 million times so far. Carlson also linked to an hour-long interview he conducted with Durov earlier this year, one of the first and only interviews the Telegram CEO has given in recent years.

In Durov's absence, Telegram's future seems uncertain to some: “I am in shock, and everyone close to Pavel feels the same way,” says Georgy Lobushkin, former PR chief at VK, a social network co-founded by Durov, who is still in regular contact with Durov. “Nobody was prepared for this situation.” When asked if he is worried about Telegram's future and who could run the company in Durov's absence, Lobushkin says: “[I] I'm very worried.”

TF1Info, which was the first in France to report on Durov's arrest, said there was “no doubt” that Durov would remain in custody pending investigation. “Pavel Durov will end up in custody, that's for sure,” an unnamed investigator told reporters.

“Nobody at Telegram was prepared for such a scenario,” says Anton Rozenberg, who worked with Durov since the early days of VK in 2007 before working for Telegram from 2016 to 2017. Rozenberg foresaw that Durov would secure the best legal defense money could buy. “But without him, the messenger could face big problems with management, all major decisions and even payments,” he added, given Durov's personal involvement in running the company. Rozenberg saw no obvious replacement for Durov, who makes key decisions on almost all matters at Telegram – funding, development strategies, product design, monetization and content moderation policies.

For now, you can assume that everything will continue as usual, says Elies Campo, who led Telegram's growth, business and partnerships from 2015 to 2021. “Depending on how long this lasts, it's like a government, right? There is this structure, there is a momentum of its own.” Campo adds that the company, with around 60 employees, is manageable enough that the infrastructure will not be affected.

Campo acknowledges that the challenge is that Durov has to be present in person to pay the service providers – something Rozenberg also pointed out.

“As far as I know, Pavel made the payments,” says Campo. “So what will happen if payments have to be made to infrastructure providers or providers in the connectivity sector – and he is still in custody?”