Telegram CEO Could Be a ‘Goldmine’ for Western Intelligence
France and its allies might have the opportunity to extract valuable intelligence related to Russia following the arrest of CEO Pavel Durov, who holds the “key” to Telegram.
Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested by French authorities after his private plane landed at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, on August 24.
French media reported that Durov’s arrest is part of an investigation into the app’s role in the distribution of child pornography and Telegram’s refusal to cooperate with authorities to prevent crime.
Telegram stated that it adheres strictly to the EU’s Digital Services Act, which requires large social media platforms to prevent the exchange of illegal content, goods, and services. The EU has not yet classified Telegram as a “very large” platform, a designation for platforms with over 45 million monthly users in the bloc that face stricter oversight. Telegram claims, “Durov has nothing to hide and frequently travels across Europe. It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner should be held responsible for its misuse. We are awaiting a swift resolution.”
However, French officials have not yet announced any formal charges against Durov or explained the reasoning behind his arrest, leading observers to believe there may be deeper motives.
Telegram is a social media platform similar to Facebook or Twitter, but its end-to-end encryption feature (which allows only the communicating parties to read messages) and commitment to user privacy have made it particularly popular in Russia and Ukraine.
Both Russian and Ukrainian military personnel, as well as activists, use the platform to exchange information, share data, and post images and videos of military activities without the risk of data leakage, as Telegram’s headquarters are in Dubai and it is largely unaffected by Western influence.
Russia had previously attempted to control Telegram, which Durov founded in 2013, but was unsuccessful. In 2015, Russian Deputy Duma Chairman Alexander Ageyev requested that the Federal Security Service (FSB) “restrict Russian access to Telegram” due to its use by ISIS militants.
Russian Information and Communication Minister Nikolai Nikiforov opposed this, arguing that blocking Telegram because of its use by ISIS was akin to banning Toyota vehicles in Russia due to their use by militants.
In 2017, Russian authorities demanded Telegram register in the country. Alexander Zharov, head of the Federal Communications Agency (Roskomnadzor), sent an open letter to Durov threatening to block Telegram if he did not comply. Durov criticized Zharov for not understanding how encrypted content works and argued that blocking Telegram would not prevent ISIS from communicating through messaging apps. The FSB also demanded that Telegram provide decryption keys, but Durov, who left Russia in 2014, refused.
Since then, Telegram has continued to grow. One reason for Telegram’s appeal, now with around 900 million global users, is its high-security communication platform with encrypted messages that cannot be monitored or intercepted.
It has also become a “backbone” of communication for the Russian military on the front lines in Ukraine and for information exchange in the rear, as its encryption mechanism ensures that confidential information remains secure from interference, unlike traditional radio communications.
Russian intelligence is also believed to have used Telegram channels to recruit agents in Europe to “sow discord” there, according to the Wall Street Journal. French officials have said that the country has become a target of recent “sabotage” campaigns from Russia, although Moscow denies this.
“This makes Durov a treasure trove for Western intelligence agencies seeking to decrypt Telegram’s encrypted communications,” Wall Street Journal commentators Matthew Dalton and Ann Simmons noted.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in April, Durov revealed that U.S. security agencies such as the FBI closely monitor when Telegram employees visit the country. He disclosed that during his latest visit to the U.S., Washington agents secretly attempted to recruit his company’s engineers.
The businessman added that the U.S. government wants to install a backdoor into the platform to monitor user activity on Telegram. Durov has consistently refused this request from Western intelligence.
Panic has enveloped Russian Telegram channels following Durov’s arrest. They believe the move is part of the U.S. and its allies’ fight against Moscow.
“French police have arrested the head of the main communication platform for the Russian armed forces. They have deprived us of our only normal means of communication,” Rybar, a blogger closely linked to the Kremlin with over three million followers, wrote.
Roman Alekhine, a prominent Russian military blogger with nearly 190,000 followers and pro-Kremlin views, expressed concern that it is “only a matter of time” before Durov hands over Telegram’s decryption keys to the West, warning that foreign intelligence could make the Russian military more vulnerable on the battlefield.
Rob Lee, an expert at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, cited a prominent Russian account noting that Western intelligence could obtain “sensitive information” about the Russian military if granted access to Telegram data.
This is why many Russian officials and military bloggers are urging soldiers and users to stop using Telegram, delete sensitive information, and even delete accounts to prevent the risk of exposing confidential information.
From the standpoint of Baza, a Telegram channel with 1.5 million followers linked to Moscow’s security forces, senior Russian Defense Ministry officials, staff from various law enforcement agencies, and some major businessmen have been instructed to delete their official Telegram accounts. Other officials have reported they have not yet received such orders but anticipate that higher-ups will soon issue directives.
Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT Russia, has called on Russian Telegram users to delete all sensitive messages from the platform. While there is no official ban on Russian soldiers using Telegram yet, if such a ban occurs, it would significantly hinder their ability to exchange information on the battlefield, according to Le Monde.
Often referred to as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia,” Durov founded Telegram with his brother Nikolai in late 2013, just months after being forced to leave VKontakte, a social networking site he also founded in Russia.
He complained of government pressure to provide encrypted user data from VKontakte. Durov left Russia in 2014 and later moved to Dubai, UAE, where Telegram is currently headquartered.
Telegram stated that its CEO now holds dual citizenship in the UAE and France. He acquired French citizenship in 2021 through a special process that allows Paris to grant citizenship to prominent figures who speak French but do not meet the standard requirements for naturalization.
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that Durov left Russia to become “a global man who can live well without a homeland” and that the arrest is a warning to the Telegram CEO.
“He miscalculated,” Medvedev said. “With all our common enemies, he is a Russian, not of our blood, making him dangerous and unpredictable.”
