Telegram Founder: Would Rather Exit a Market Than Compromise User Privacy, Encryption Not Designed to Protect Criminals

BlockBeats News, April 21st, Telegram founder Pavel Durov posted on his personal channel, stating that last month, France came close to banning encryption technology. The Senate passed a law requiring messaging applications to provide law enforcement with backdoor access to private messages. Fortunately, this law was rejected by the National Assembly. However, three days ago, the Paris police chief once again defended it. Members of the National Assembly wisely rejected this law, otherwise, France would have become the world's first country to deprive citizens of privacy rights.

This law aimed at combating drug trafficking has actually been of no help in fighting crime. Even if mainstream encrypted applications were weakened by backdoors, criminals could still communicate securely through dozens of smaller applications.

"As I have said before, this is also why Telegram would rather exit a market than weaken encryption with a backdoor and violate fundamental human rights. Unlike some competitors, we will not sacrifice privacy for market share.

In Telegram's 12-year history, not a single byte of private messages has ever been disclosed. According to the EU's Digital Services Act, if a valid court order is received, Telegram will only disclose the criminal suspect's IP address and phone number—not message content."

Last month, freedom prevailed. But this reminds us: we must continually explain to lawmakers that encryption technology is not designed to protect criminals—it protects the privacy and security of ordinary people. Losing this protection would be tragic."