Pavel Durov claims that in the 12 years of Telegram’s existence, it has never disclosed users’ private messages.
In the publication, the messenger’s founder emphasized that the platform does not succumb to government pressure. He assures that Telegram will not create backdoors, even if it means leaving the market.
«In it’s 12-year history, Telegram has never disclosed a single byte of private messages», — Durov wrote.
According to him, the company agrees to share only the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected criminals — and only by court order, in accordance with the European Digital Services Act. We will elaborate on this point below.
His post comes amid discussions in France and the EU about a potential ban on end-to-end encryption. Durov explained that last month, the French Senate almost passed a law that would force messengers to implement backdoors. These are special «holes» in the protection through which the police could access correspondence. This law was rejected by the National Assembly, but three days ago, the prefect of the Paris police again supported the idea. Durov warns that if at least one country follows this path, the consequences will be global.
«Because it’s technically impossible to guarantee that only the police can access a backdoor. Once introduced, a backdoor can be exploited by other parties — from foreign agents to hackers», — he emphasizes.
As a result, this could jeopardize the personal data of millions of people. Therefore, Durov criticized the argument that such laws will help fight crime. According to him, even if major messengers implement backdoors, criminals will simply switch to less popular apps and use VPNs.
But Telegram is increasingly transmitting metadata
Over the past year, the platform has significantly increased the number of times it transmits user metadata — phone numbers and IP addresses. According to a report on transparency, in 2024, Telegram satisfied 900 requests from US law enforcement regarding 2253 users. For comparison, before September 2024, there were only 14 such requests.
This was made possible by after Telegram’s policy change in September 2014. Previously, the platform had a strict «no data except in cases of terrorism» stance. But now it agrees to disclose the IP address and phone number of a suspect in cybercrime, fraud, or trafficking in illegal substances — but only after receiving a valid court order.
At the same time, the information catalyst for the policy change was Durov’s arrest in France in August 2014. He was accused of refusing to cooperate with the investigation, complicity in cybercrime and distribution of prohibited materials. After that, several groups of cybercriminals publicly left Telegram, but, according to KELA, the situation has not changed globally. And the Durov can now leave France.
Against the backdrop of this arrest, a massive panic began in Russia: officials began to delete Telegram from their phones, fearing that the platform would give Europeans access to their correspondence. This is especially telling if we recall that the Russian authorities had previously unsuccessfully demanded encryption keys from Durov. At the same time, in France, Telegram topped the App Store rankings, and in a few months it became is the second-largest messenger in the world after WhatsApp.
Source: Pavel Durov
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