Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt
While Crypto Twitter can often be brutally black-and-white when it comes to narrativizing major events, this week saw the industry splinter into shades of gray after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov broke a days-long silence following his release from police custody in France.
In a lengthy letter to the public on this week—posted first to Telegram and then to Twitter—Durov weighed in for the first time on his arrest and indictment last week by French authorities for allegedly facilitating illegal activity on Telegram by not cooperating with government requests for increased moderation.
❤️ Thanks everyone for your support and love!
Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. I was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram.…
— Pavel Durov (@durov) September 6, 2024
The letter proved to be a decidedly mixed bag for crypto users, who had enthusiastically embraced Durov as a martyr and defiant privacy advocate immediately following his arrest. Makers of popular Telegram games had also rallied behind him.
On one end, the Telegram founder pushed back against the French government’s allegations and forcefully critiqued how officials came for him personally as a dangerous precedent that could derail technological innovation.
These statements appear to have enthralled Durov’s loyal fanbase, particularly users of The Open Network, Telegram’s blockchain of choice.
But other elements of Durov’s letter—and subsequent perceived shifts in tone made by Telegram—left some in crypto concerned. The entrepreneur conceded that his messaging app’s system for monitoring content was not perfect, and vowed to “significantly improve” moderation standards and practices to clamp down on criminal activity.
Shortly thereafter, Crypto Twitter ignited with the revelation that a line in Telegram’s FAQ about refusing to monitor private chats had been quietly removed.
Telegram quietly updates FAQ, removing:
“All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them.” pic.twitter.com/ajWOOBAAB5
— db (@tier10k) September 6, 2024
Given the timing of the change, some in crypto took the developments as grim proof that Telegram had “fallen” to government pressure.
Is Signal is the last app left with the perception of privacy? Telegram has fallen, Meta products are compromised, pigeons are too high maintenance. The thing is, most people don’t even care. “Why do we need privacy? We’re not doing anything bad.” Then one day, they’re in prison.
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) September 6, 2024
But Telegram itself soon pushed back on that narrative, insisting that the app’s code and policy regarding private chats had not changed whatsoever—just the phrasing of language on their website, for clarity. “Anyone can check our code and see there were no changes,” Telegram asserted.
You could always report messages from any group to moderators, acts like forwarding. Private chats are still private too – although you could always report a new incoming chat to moderators by using Block > Report. Anyone can check our code and see there were no changes. The FAQ…
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) September 6, 2024
For some degens, though, such distinctions didn’t matter. Rhetorically, at least, the knee had been bent.
So telegram has decided to bend
— Macharia Alex🇰🇪🇬🇧 (@machadesigns) September 6, 2024
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Source: https://decrypt.co/248317/this-week-on-crypto-twitter-telegram-founders-reemergence-sparks-split
