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\u201cAll these accusations against Durov sound absurd,\u201d one political analyst in the studio declared. \u201cAccusing him of all the crimes that are committed on his platform is like accusing [France’s] President Macron of all the crimes that happen in France. It\u2019s the same logic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russian newspapers, too, went big on the story. Several dailies expressed concern that Pavel Durov\u2019s arrest could have serious consequences for Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis blow to Telegram threatens to be a blow to Russia,\u201d wrote Nezavisimaya Gazeta. \u201cWith Pavel Durov\u2019s arrest, Western intelligence services could obtain the messenger\u2019s encryption keys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTelegram might become a tool of Nato, if Pavel Durov is forced to obey the French intelligence services,\u201d declared Moskovsky Komsomolets, adding: \u201cTelegram chats contain a huge amount of vitally important, strategic information.\u201d<\/p>\n
In April 2018, the Russian authorities began blocking access to Telegram, only to lift the ban in 2020. Today, not only do Russian officials use the messenger, but so does the Russian military, including soldiers fighting in the so-called “Special Military Operation” (Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine).<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Telegram crashes,\u201d Moskovsky Komsomolets asked today, \u201chow is [our army] going to fight?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the West, Pavel Durov\u2019s detention has sparked a debate about free speech. <\/p>\n
In Russia, too, presidential human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova claimed that \u201cthe real reason for arresting Pavel Durov was to shut down Telegram, a platform where you can discover the truth about what\u2019s happening in the world. Everyone who strives for free speech protests this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Moskalkova made no mention of the Signal messaging app, to which the Russian authorities blocked access earlier this month, or YouTube, access to which has been severely limited now in Russia. Facebook and Instagram have already been blocked here.<\/p>\n
And what of those rumours of a Putin-Durov meeting in Baku earlier in August. Was there one?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied when I asked.<\/p>\n
However this mysterious story ends, Moscow will use it to strengthen one of its official narratives: that Russian citizens should beware of the West.<\/p>\n
As the popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda put it: \u201cFor the West, there is no such thing any more as \u2018good Russians\u2019.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/picture><\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n