‘Internet
prophet’: arrest of Telegram CEO could strengthen heroic image
Pavel Durov
will probably use French legal disputes to position himself as a champion of
free speech, say observers
Pjotr Sauer
Sat 31 Aug
2024 05.00 BST
When Pavel
Durov came under criticism from Russian regulators over the spread of
pornography on the VKontakte social media platform he founded, the tech
entrepreneur responded mockingly by changing his Twitter handle from “VK CEO”
to “Porn King”.
More than a
decade later, Durov’s anti-authoritarian stance and hands-off approach to
moderation have landed him in more serious trouble.
On
Wednesday, a court in Paris charged the 39-year-old with being complicit in the
spread of images of child sexual abuse, as well as a litany of other alleged
violations on the Telegram messaging app.
Since its
launch in 2013, Durov has presented Telegram as a politically neutral refuge,
free from government control and a haven for free speech. For years, he seemed
unbothered by the increasing global regulations targeting tech companies and
the growing criticism that his platform was being exploited for criminal
activities and terrorism.
“It looks
like he overestimated himself. Durov believed he had unchecked freedom and was
too significant to be arrested. France thought differently,” said the Russian
journalist Nikolai Kononov, one of the few reporters who has spoken to the tech
billionaire on multiple occasions and authored a biography about him.
For now,
Durov has avoided jail, out on a €5m (£4.2m) bail, but has been required to
surrender his three passports – French, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Russian –
clipping the wings of a man known for rarely staying in one place for long.
Born in 1984
in the Soviet Union, Durov grew up in a family of intellectuals and was sent to
a prestigious high school in St Petersburg. According to Kononov, Durov
rebelled against power from a young age.
While
learning to code in school, he hacked the system to make all the computers in
the classroom display a photograph of the teacher with the caption “Must die”.
He was banned from the computer lab for a month.
As a
somewhat awkward teenager, Durov was said to possess immense self-confidence,
bordering on a messianic belief in his own abilities. When friends gathered at
a flat after high school graduation to discuss future careers, he told them,
without a hint of joking, that he would become an “internet prophet”.
As his
reputation as a computer wizard grew while at university, Durov was approached
by two acquaintances who showed him an early version of Mark Zuckerberg’s
Facebook. The group quickly decided to create a nearly identical Russian
version.
To bring his
vision to life, Durov enlisted the help of his older brother, Nikolai, a maths
prodigy who won gold three years in a row at the International Mathematical
Olympiad in the 1990s. The older Durov would later be recognised as the brains
behind both VKontakte and Telegram.
With
relatively little competition in the Russian market, VKontakte quickly grew to
become the leading social networking platform in Russia as well as across the
post-Soviet sphere.
VKontakte
provided a user experience akin to Facebook but was specifically designed for
the Russian-speaking audience. Its rapid growth was partly fuelled by the
platform allowing the sharing and streaming of pirated music and films, and
pornography.
Durov’s
first test of his commitment to freedom came during the demonstration against
Vladimir Putin that swept Russia in early 2012. Durov emerged as a hero of the
liberal opposition by refusing to shut down groups on the site that were
dedicated to organising protest marches. He further solidified his independent
reputation when he refused to turn over data to the Kremlin on Ukrainian users
during the 2013-14 Maidan marches in Ukraine.
But he
gradually lost control of VKontakte to investors linked to Mail.ru, a company
owned by a Russian oligarchy close to the Kremlin.
Durov
decided to leave Russia, writing in his departing message: “Since December
2013, I have had no property, but I still have something more important – a
clear conscience and the ideals I am ready to defend.”
Colleagues
said Durov came up with the idea for Telegram while looking for a way to
communicate safely with his team.
Telegram’s
novelty was that it allowed huge chat groups, making it easier to organise
people, like a slicker version of WhatsApp.
Its
“channels” allowed information to be disseminated quickly to large numbers of
followers in a way that other messaging services do not; they combined the
reach and immediacy of a Twitter/X feed, and the focus of an email newsletter.
The app’s
blend of usability and privacy has attracted a diverse range of users, from
lifestyle bloggers to anti-authoritarian protesters, and has been instrumental
in fuelling demonstrations in Iran, Belarus and Russia.
It has also
increasingly become a refuge for extremists and conspiracy theorists, as well
as a preferred tool for child abusers, drug gangs and terrorist groups.
In the
business world, Telegram’s success, with nearly a billion users, demonstrated
that Durov was much more than just a copycat artist.
“While
VKontakte raised some questions about whether Durov’s success was due to his
own merits or simply a replication of Facebook, the launch of Telegram was
clearly a technological breakthrough on a global scale,” said Pavel Cherkashin,
a venture capitalist who worked with Durov.
As Telegram
evolved into a tech giant, Durov fostered a reputation as an eccentric,
imperious figure. Obsessed with the film The Matrix, he saw himself and dressed
like Keanu Reeves’ character Neo, as a coder with a mission.
Although he
is often referred to as “Russia’s Zuckerberg”, his biographer Kononov notes
that Durov drew inspiration from Apple chief Steve Jobs, who was at the height
of his influence at the time.
“Durov, like
Jobs, saw himself as an authoritarian visionary, who pushes his staff to the
extremes”
Durov would
occasionally publish self-help posts entitled “Rules of Life” on his Instagram
account, advising his millions of followers to live a solitary existence, avoid
alcohol and coffee, and refrain from overeating.
He also
prided himself on owning minimal property, which he claimed allowed him to
remain unanchored and maintain a mobile lifestyle, supported by a team of just
30 full-time engineers around the world.
Durov has
kept details of his private life largely secret, though last month, he
disclosed on social media that, as a sperm donor, he now has more than 100
biological children.
Protester
holds a icon depicting Pavel Durov during a demonstration in St Petersburg
against the blocking of Telegram in Russia in 2018.
View image
in fullscreen
Fervent
supporters question speculation that Pavel Durov travelled to Paris aiming to
resolve his legal disputes. Photograph: Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images
At the time
of his arrest, after arriving in Paris by private jet, Durov was accompanied by
24-year-old Juli Vavilova, a Dubai-based crypto coach and streamer.
But while he
has mostly managed to avoid the public scrutiny faced by top executives of
other tech companies, such as Elon Musk and Zuckerberg, foreign governments
have long sought to monitor Durov and win his favour.
The Guardian
previously reported that Durov’s number was selected for surveillance using the
Pegasus spy network, while the Wall Street Journal this week said French and
Emirati spies hacked him in 2017.
At the same
time, he seemed to have been wined and dined on multiple occasions by the
French president, Emmanuel Macron, who had suggested Durov move his company to
France.
“Durov felt
that he was treated with respect in France, I don’t think he saw the arrest
coming,” said a source close to the billionaire who asked for anonymity.
Durov
obtained French nationality in 2021. Macron on Thursday said the decision “was
taken as part of a fully assumed strategy, to allow women and men ... who make
the effort to learn the French language and who develop wealth and innovation,
who shine in the world, when they ask for it, to be given French nationality”.
Le Monde
reported that the men had met on several occasions before Durov obtained a
French passport. This request for French nationality was made by Durov after a
lunch with Macron in 2018, the newspaper added, saying this had been confirmed
by the Élysée Palace. During this lunch, the possibility of Telegram basing
itself in France was mentioned.
Questions
have been raised about the timing and circumstances of Durov’s detention, in
particular, whether he knew that Paris had issued a warrant against him.
Some have
speculated that Durov travelled to Paris aiming to resolve his legal disputes,
while fervent supporters question whether he would ever voluntarily surrender
himself.
However,
most believe Durov will probably frame it as another chapter in his fight for
free speech, positioning himself as a champion of the cause.
“From the
very start of his career, Durov has emerged stronger after every attack against
him, further solidifying his image as an anti-establishment hero,” said
Kononov.
Additional
reporting by Kim Willsher in Paris
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