“The post is full of excuses”: experts comment on Durov’s first statement from Paris

Durov decided to speak out for the first time almost two weeks after his arrest. The Leningrad native posted his message in the English version of his personal Telegram channel and in less than 24 hours he received 2.4 million paid reactions of support. For example, 24 thousand stars can be bought for 44 thousand rubles. Thus, users raised about 4.4 million rubles for Durov.

• The founder of Telegram has been charged with failing to cooperate with authorities in connection with crimes committed by users of the messenger, of which he is 100% owner and CEO.
• You can read Durov’s post using the link.

Durov’s post provoked mixed reactions among users. Someone said that the founder of the platform probably agreed to the messenger’s moderation by the French authorities. Someone thought that the meaning of the post was that Durov was ready to “cancel” Telegram in France. Some users believed that the post was written by his lawyers for the “IT specialist.”

Durov’s former press secretary Georgy Lobushkin on his Telegram channel has already called Durov’s post “excellent from the point of view of competent positioning of a personal brand.”

“The French will notice that Pavel Valeryich admitted imperfections and mistakes and is ready for rational cooperation, which, by the way, has already been demonstrated in preventing terrorist attacks. The Americans will see that he quietly distanced himself from evil Iran and Russia. He thanked you and me, friends, for the memes – in this we were definitely ahead of everyone,” Lobushkin concluded, adding that this is “completely predictable behavior for a person who risks losing a lot.”

Founder and CEO of Kuznets Agency branding agency Alexey Kuznetsov I also noticed that at the end of his post, Durov thanked users “for the love and memes,” and the Telegram founder didn’t just talk about memes at the end.

“As for memes, this is the prerogative of social media: freedom, style, avant-garde thinking and communicative language. Behind this is a message for audiences from different countries who are alien to religion and politics. The last word of the long statement is “memes”. This is the brand’s attitude to humor and is also the strongest unit of the cultural code of humanity in 2024,” Kuznetsov noted in an interview with RB.RU.

Director of the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers Vladimir ZykovHe believes Durov probably reached an agreement with the French authorities and his first public message after his arrest was “full of excuses.”

“The post is full of excuses from the series “here we have come to an agreement with everyone, here we are white and hairy, and if we do not agree with someone, then we leave for countries like Russia and Iran.” At the same time, the key message of Durov’s post sounds completely ridiculous: “We are already working with the French authorities, why didn’t you say so before?”, the expert argues. Zykov was surprised that Durov, as an example of “leaving”, was talking about Russia, where Telegram actually remained. Zykov suggests that in this case the authorities managed to reach an agreement with Durov.

“I don’t know who overturned this court decision. In theory, any reversal of a court decision is within the competence of the court alone. And then, for some reason, Roskomnadzor itself unblocked it. Obviously, this is an indicator of Durov’s approach,” the expert believes.

Corporate Lawyer Yulia Bondarenko He believes that Durov’s position is part of the defense strategy that the lawyers are developing.

“People were expecting a personal comment. The fact that it was not published immediately after the release only shows that they thought about its content and selected words and messages. In his post, Durov says first of all: “Don’t be afraid to transmit information and don’t run away from Telegram,” says the lawyer.

Polina Gusyatnikova, Senior Managing Partner of PG Partners Law Firm He added that the post was necessary to avoid speculation.

“Even despite the pressure now exerted by the French authorities, the platform has no intention of complying with any demands that, in its opinion, are illegal. At the same time, Pavel Durov openly says that the platform is leaving those countries where the opinion of government services on the privacy policy of users does not coincide with that of Telegram. France may be next. The owner of the platform also stresses that it fights daily against the dissemination of prohibited information or information that violates the principles of state security, but no one intends to deviate from its principles of confidentiality,” the lawyer says.

Editor and content producer, owner of his own network of Telegram channels “Economism” Alexey Krichevsky He believes that nothing critical has happened either for privacy or for the future of the platform. Durov expressed his position quite clearly, from which it follows that he will not hand over any keys to anyone and that he does not understand the fact of the arrest at all.

“The problem was that in the EU the platform seemed like a kind of dark space for all kinds of criminals: they say that the creator does not cooperate with the authorities and that is why everyone can agree on anything there. Although in reality this is a very controversial thesis, as is the fact that Durov himself is an accomplice to terrorism. Now Telegram is the most downloaded app, if not in the whole of Europe, then at least in France, and a little later people will understand that the reasons for the arrest are not security at all,” says Krichevsky.

The expert adds that what is happening will probably only affect the IPO plans, and bondholders who were hoping to exchange their bonds for shares will change.

At the same time, Pavel Durov’s personal brand after such events and the awkwardness of the accusation “flew into the stratosphere,” Krichevsky believes.

“It can only collapse if Durov escapes from France or if the intelligence services gain direct access to Telegram,” the expert believes.