Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, is pretty grim about the future and fears that “we are running out of time.”
“I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating,” Durov said in a Telegram message that was published on Friday.
He’s deeply concerned about our privacy and freedom and warns that a “dystopian world” is approaching quickly. To prove his point, he referred to several technological developments that are being implemented to keep people on a short leash.
“What was once the promise of the free exchange of information is being turned into the ultimate tool of control. Once-free countries are introducing dystopian measures such as digital IDs (UK), online age checks (Australia), and mass scanning of private messages (EU),” Durov says.
He continues by saying that freedom of speech is increasingly under pressure, as Western countries are prosecuting people who criticize the government.
“A dark, dystopian world is approaching fast, while we’re asleep. Our generation risks going down in history as the last one that had freedoms and allowed them to be taken away.”
Our privacy and freedom of speech are not the only things at stake – the same goes for traditions, sovereignty, and the free market, values our forefathers fought for.
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“By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction, moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological,” Durov adds. That’s why, the founder and CEO of Telegram concludes, he’s not celebrating his birthday.
Back in August 2024, Durov was arrested in France at Le Bourget Airport near Paris because he failed to respond to cybercrime and financial fraud investigation requests on Telegram. Four days after his arrest and paying €5 million in bail, Durov was released from custody but wasn’t allowed to leave the country, because the investigation was still ongoing.
In March 2025, Durov was allowed to leave France. Recently, he spoke about his arrest.
“One year ago, the French police detained me for four days because some people I’d never heard of used Telegram to coordinate crimes. Arresting a CEO of a major platform over the actions of its users was not only unprecedented, it was legally and logically absurd,” Durov said.
“So far, the only outcome of my arrest has been massive damage to France’s image as a free country. One thing is certain: we’ll keep fighting, and we will win,” he added.
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