Russia’s domestic intelligence service, the FSB, has accused Telegram founder Pavel Durov of supporting terrorism. Specifically, Durov is said to have failed to shut down chats and bots that, according to the FSB, were used by Ukrainian intelligence services and terrorist organizations to recruit personnel for sabotage and terrorist attacks inside Russia.
As a current example, the intelligence service cited a popular dating chatbot for young people. Through this bot, Ukrainian services allegedly lured 46 young Russians aged 12 to 22 into committing crimes that the FSB classified as a terrorist attack.
Shortly after the arrest warrant became known, Durov posted a photo on platform X showing him flipping the middle finger to the camera. When the investigation first became public in February, Durov wrote: “Every day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram because they want to limit the right to privacy and free speech.”
Globally, Telegram has more than one billion users, according to industry data. Moscow has massively tightened internet censorship since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Calls via Telegram have long been blocked, and the messenger has recently been throttled. However, even official bodies continue to use Telegram despite the ban. According to Kyiv, Russia also recruits Ukrainians for sabotage acts primarily via Telegram.
Other states also accuse Telegram of allowing extremists or criminals to use encrypted communication. The company has recently denied not doing enough against illegal content. Durov was arrested in France in 2024 because the platform allegedly failed to prevent such abuse. The 41-year-old was released on bail, and the proceedings are ongoing. At the time of the arrest in France, the Russian government still spoke of “political persecution.”
Source: www.spiegel.de
