After Pavel Durov was detained in France, Ukrainian society once again started talking about the possible blocking of the Telegram messenger. Find out what Zelensky thinks about it and what the situation is around the story of the arrest of the Telegram CEO

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The issue of blocking Telegram in Ukraine had been discussed long before the founder of the messenger Pavel Durov was detained in France. However, the outcome of the trial could probably still influence the decision of Ukrainian officials, who believe that Telegram is doing Ukraine more harm than good during the war.

What's going on around Telegram and what you need to know about the detention of its CEO Pavel Durov?

A few days ago, French police detained Durov at Paris airport, which caused a real outcry among Telegram users and other techno-moguls, including Ilon Musk.

Durov is in custody at the request of the prosecutor's office. He can sit in the pre-trial detention centre until 28 August. If no charges are brought against him, French law enforcers will be obliged to release the Telegram CEO.

What is Durov suspected of?

The French prosecutor's office noted that Durov is suspected of 12 offences:

- Refusal to hand over information necessary for investigations at the request of law enforcement;

- complicity in drug distribution;

- complicity in cybercrime;

- complicity in fraud;

- money laundering;

- unlawful provision of cryptographic services and privacy tools;

- complicity in possession of pornographic content with minors.

It is still unclear how the prosecution is going to prove Durov's guilt in court, since, as experts have stated, the CEO of the messenger is not responsible for what happens in it, but acts only as a developer.

How can this affect Telegram?

First of all, it is worth noting that a tech giant like Telegram probably has a step-by-step plan in case of such situations. Moreover, it's important to consider that it's not easy to shut down or ban an app that is used by about a billion people. Moreover, user interest in Telegram has only increased since Durov's arrest.

As for the economic stability of Telegram, of course, if Pavel Durov - the main person in the company who is responsible for investments and other economic flows within the messenger - is arrested, this stability may be shaken. However, this would take months.

Moreover, finding Durov guilty under the above articles will be a big risk for the French authorities because of the high public weight in this story.

According to BBC, citing an expert, if Durov is obliged to provide law enforcers with encryption keys, the data of Telegram users will be in danger because of the threat of leakage to the black market. And then the leaked information could become the subject of blackmail or cyber fraud schemes. Therefore, the risks of social upheaval and new rounds of cybercrime outweigh the benefits of access to the correspondence of terrorists and extremists.

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Could Telegram be shut down in Ukraine?

Potentially, the topic that was topical in Ukraine a year ago, the blocking of Telegram, may play with new colours against the backdrop of the situation with its CEO.

For example, the head of the parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, has already called for stricter regulation of Telegram before other countries do so, likely alluding to France, where Durov was detained.

‘Nothing will stop a decision whose time has come as early as 2022,’ Yurchyshyn believes.

At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the detention of the Telegram founder has no effect on the messenger's work in Ukraine so far.

‘As of today it has no effect on the fact that Telegram works in Ukraine. Our policy is that we work as an EU country. There should be a conversation among EU countries,’ the President said.

Based on this response, it can be assumed that Ukraine will wait for a decision within the EU, and then already draw conclusions and implement their own restrictions, if necessary.

We remind you! Limited media literacy and distrust of Ukrainians in traditional sources of information increase the risk of falling into the trap of fakes. What percentage of Ukrainians can recognise false information and how to fight fakes on the Internet, read here.

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