Telegram founder Pavel Durov criticized European authorities for promoting a law that introduces a so-called backdoor to end-to-end encryption, granting law enforcement access to users’ confidential data.
He stated that it is technically impossible to ensure that only the police can access the backdoor.
“Once implemented, the backdoor could be exploited by others—from foreign agents to hackers. As a result, the private messages of all law-abiding citizens could be compromised,” Durov explained.
Furthermore, he is convinced that weakening major messengers will not aid in combating crime but will merely drive criminals to smaller applications.
Using France as an example, the Telegram founder noted that the National Assembly rejected the Senate’s amendment, yet recently, the Paris police prefect supported it again. A similar initiative was proposed by the European Commission.
“As I have said before, Telegram would rather leave the market than undermine encryption with backdoors and violate fundamental human rights. Unlike some of our competitors, we do not trade privacy for market share,” Durov stated.
He emphasized that in 12 years of existence, the messenger “has never disclosed a single byte of private messages.”
“In accordance with the EU Digital Services Act, with a valid court order, Telegram will only disclose IP addresses and phone numbers of those suspected of criminal activity, not messages,” the company founder clarified.
Durov added that he intends to protect users’ freedoms from state attacks.
In addition to France, authorities in Sweden are considering a similar initiative. In February, Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker sharply criticized it and announced plans to shut down business in the country if the law comes into force.