Unlike tech billionaire Musk, who waged public spats over the EU’s push to police online content, Telegram and Durov have previously managed to stay under the radar as policymakers tried to crack down on illegal content or behavior on the app.
“It’s hard to get in touch with Telegram and make arrangements,” a Dutch minister explained in January when grilled by local lawmakers on a media report about illegal drugs offered via public Telegram chats.
But thanks to one high-profile, late-night arrest at a Paris airport, Telegram now faces the harsh glare of the regulatory, political and judicial spotlight.
Going mainstream
Initially a fringe platform, Telegram has grown over the past decade to rival Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp messaging service.
Durov founded Telegram in 2013 with his brother Nikolai, building on their success in launching Russia’s answer to Facebook, VKontakte, in 2006. Keeping its customers’ secrets was a key part of Telegram’s appeal, making it an attractive app for anyone wanting to avoid government scrutiny.
“Telegram has historically had problems with regulators in some parts of the world because, unlike other services, we consistently defended our users’ privacy and have never made any deals with governments,” Durov wrote in 2017, having fled Russia years earlier after refusing to shut down opposition groups on VKontakte.