Pavel Durov's journey has all the hallmarks of a legendary underdog-to-billionaire story.
The 39-year-old entrepreneur has launched two tech platforms, one of which has become Russia's version of Facebook and the other a competitor to WhatsApp – no wonder people call him the Russian Mark Zuckerberg.
His net worth is estimated at around $15.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine, and the messaging app he founded, Telegram, is said to be worth more than $30 billion and is considering an initial public offering.
But Durov's legacy as a technology champion is now being called into question: On Saturday, he was arrested in Paris in connection with an investigation into allegedly using Telegram as a platform for criminal activity.
All the public knows about Durov comes from glimpses into his life on social media, where he is photographed mostly in black clothing and against beautiful landscapes. But Durov's rare media appearances tend to garner attention, such as in April when he shared his views on the social media platform with far-right talk show host Tucker Carlson, and in July when he said he had fathered more than 100 children through sperm donation.
His detention by French authorities prompted reactions from the likes of Elon Musk and sparked a wider debate about issues the tech industry grapples with, including free speech and content moderation.
From the USSR to Europe and beyond
Durov was born in Russia and lived there with his family until he was four years old. They then moved to Italy, where Durov had to adapt to a different language and culture. In an interview, he told Carlson that his teachers told him he was doomed to fail, which fostered a competitive spirit and helped him excel as a student.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Durov and his family eventually returned to Russia, where he completed his education and founded the Facebook-like platform VKontakte (now called “VK”) in 2006. It became a huge success and quickly became Russia's largest social networking site.
But eventually the Kremlin began to interfere in the company's management and demanded more control over the platform, which led Durov to leave VK and Russia in 2014.
A year before his escape, Durov and his brother Nikolai founded Telegram, creating an uncensored, easily accessible application for anyone.
After years of bouncing around Europe and Asia, both the messaging platform and Durov are now based in Dubai, where he also holds citizenship of the UAE, France and the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Telegram has been gaining a reputation that can be good or bad, depending on who you ask. With a relatively small team of around 50 full-time employees, the app proved to be a vital communication tool during the Russia-Ukraine war. Telegram offers features its rivals don't: groups can accommodate up to 200,000 people, for example, compared to WhatsApp's limit of 1,000. It also has encryption, allows the use of cryptocurrencies, and offers premium subscriptions.
Telegram has around 1 billion users.
Chesnot/Getty Images
But parts of Telegram have been accused of spawning a range of criminal activities, from child pornography to terrorism to disinformation, and the platform's relatively light focus on content moderation is thought to be the reason illegal material is more widely available on the platform.
“Because the vast majority of activity on Telegram is not end-to-end encrypted, and never has been, Pavel's detention has clearly caused anxiety for many Telegram users, leaving them questioning the privacy of what they have said in the past and who may have access to it,” John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, said in X's post.
Countries have recently warned of the threat. On Tuesday, South Korea called for an investigation into sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of women circulating in Telegram chats. Brazil temporarily banned the app last year after it refused to share information about neo-Nazi groups with law enforcement. In a 2022 study, UNESCO found that about half of Holocaust-related posts on Telegram denied or distorted facts.
Durov told the Financial Times earlier this year that Telegram would step up its AI moderation efforts but wouldn't crack down on people “unless they cross the line.” After his arrest, Telegram said its moderation was “within industry standards and we are constantly improving it.”
What does Durov's arrest mean for social media companies?
Telegram has largely fended off accusations that it is facilitating illegal activity on its platform, all the while insisting that Durov aims to protect free speech on the messaging platform.
“Privacy is ultimately more important than the fear of bad things happening, like terrorism,” he posted in 2015, according to The New York Times.
Meta has been embroiled in long-running battles over free speech, censorship and content moderation, and Elon Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist” who is under EU scrutiny for his platform X's content moderation, rushed to support Durov following his arrest.
#FreePavel
pic.twitter.com/B7AcJWswMs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
Kate Ruan, director of the Free Expression Project at the Washington, DC-based Center for Democracy and Technology, told The Washington Post that it's a tricky balance, but that arresting the CEOs of tech platforms may not be the best solution.
“Arresting platform executives for failing to adequately moderate even disturbing and harmful content that harms children puts us down a dangerous path that undermines free expression and gives governments too much power to stifle speech,” she said.
Telegram has nearly 1 billion users worldwide, and while it remains to be seen whether Durov's arrest will change the way the app operates, it will certainly raise the profile of how Telegram moderates the content shared by bad actors on the platform.
Recommended reading:
The new special issue features a Wall Street legend getting a dramatic makeover, tales of cryptocurrency shenanigans and badly behaved poultry royalty, and more.
Read the story.
Source link
