The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, made a strong statement: if Telegram is forced to provide access to users' personal messages, the company prefers to leave the market, UPL.uz reported.
According to him, Telegram will only provide the IP address and phone number of individuals suspected of a crime based on a court order in accordance with European legislation. However, in its 12 years of operation, Telegram has never disclosed users' personal messages.
Durov recalled that he was detained in France in August 2024. Currently, there is a law under discussion in that country that would require encrypted messengers to install "backdoors." He stated that there is no guarantee that such access rights would remain solely with law enforcement agencies.
Such vulnerabilities could also be exploited by hackers and foreign state agents. This puts the privacy of Telegram users at risk. According to Durov, encryption was implemented to protect ordinary people, not criminals. Losing this protection would be a great tragedy.