In recent months, Telegram founder Pavel Durov has faced serious pressure from regulatory authorities in various countries. French law enforcement agencies have been pursuing charges against him for two years, culminating in his detention at Paris-Le Bourget Airport in August 2024. In July of the same year, Russian authorities placed the entrepreneur on an international wanted list and added him to their register of terrorists and extremists. Additionally, Australia joined the wave of accusations, claiming the messenger violates local online safety laws.
At first glance, the allegations made by these nations overlap significantly, focusing on insufficient moderation of illegal content, including fraud, money laundering, and other offenses. However, the objectives of these proceedings differ substantially. While the disputes in France and Australia center around digital platform liability and law enforcement, the actions of Russian authorities point to an effort to gain complete control over the messenger.
History of Relations with Russian Authorities
The conflict between the Russian leadership and Telegram has lasted for nearly a decade, during which the official stance changed repeatedly. In 2017, the regulator demanded that the messenger register as an information dissemination organizer. Despite initial assurances from the agency that this was a mere formality with no threat to private chats, the intelligence services soon demanded encryption keys to decode messages. Following Durov's refusal, an unsuccessful attempt to block the service was launched in 2018.
With the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in 2022, the messenger's role grew, as it remained a key source of independent information amid the blocks of other platforms. Interestingly, during Durov's arrest in France in the summer of 2024, Russian officials actively defended him, criticizing the actions of French authorities. Nonetheless, Moscow's rhetoric soon reversed once again, and a criminal case was opened against Telegram's founder in Russia on charges of facilitating illegal activities.
Investigations in France and Australia
The French case began in early 2024 due to the platform's systematic disregard of judicial requests from law enforcement. Local authorities launched an investigation on multiple counts, categorized into complicity in crimes and refusal to cooperate with investigators. After being released on bail, Durov explained that the issues stemmed from improperly formatted requests, but Telegram subsequently updated its moderation rules, leading to a significant easing of restrictions for the entrepreneur.
In Australia, the situation is purely civil. The local online safety regulator filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court over non-compliance with requirements to remove prohibited content. The country does not pursue the company's leadership criminally, but rather seeks a fine of up to 54.6 million Australian dollars. While Western countries dispute with the platform over the boundaries of its liability as an intermediary, Russia's actions represent an attempt at total subjugation of the resource.
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