Oddbean

The creator of Telegram was arrested in France. But the official story is full of holes. The narrative is that "his girlfriend's posts" gave away his location. What if we told you that, in reality, he "turned himself in"? https://image.nostr.build/5d04468b88a811cf8b344bdf06e2be0961b2eb70b624abcab0ec8a74c4db887b.jpg https://image.nostr.build/f26cda94e0d7bfbf72585dbc8d6f32138f06f416d7f44f2e85cd00f6b003749f.jpg Pavel Durov was arrested on Saturday night (24th) as soon as his private jet landed in Paris. Supposedly, it was because Telegram didn't comply with moderation requests from European authorities. But the truth is that Durov knew he was being prosecuted there. He has a French passport. You know how? Macron gave it to him. https://image.nostr.build/88d2858d324b014a35a5d781400e7131c8501cc1e34bf1a547aef7b6590e7c48.png Durov flew to Paris directly from Baku, Azerbaijan. A few days earlier, he had a secret meeting scheduled with Vladimir Putin... but the president stood him up. Notice that the relationship between the two is rocky. The second most famous Russian in the world is somewhat at odds with the first. https://image.nostr.build/7988e2198f25f6a9504245b5dddea6f8e6f745d4654f58f783bfdccbab71918c.png https://image.nostr.build/ac863c31c8dcf4c893735ce35932e7177c6de80488aa816d98b436d4d99e7c83.jpg In 2014, Durov sold his first company—a "Russian Orkut"—because he refused to follow Putin's orders to hand over information on Ukrainian users. He fled the country and realized he was being wiretapped: the government was monitoring him even when he spoke with his brother. That's when the idea came to him: https://image.nostr.build/665c428ece3d0b9ba46259adf8f61ddbfe67c72e12855030af59b641310d6850.jpg ...to create a messaging app where even he couldn't spy on his users' conversations, even if he wanted to. However, despite this rhetoric, Telegram is much more vulnerable to surveillance than Signal, or even WhatsApp, both of which use end-to-end encryption by default. https://image.nostr.build/ab1e072f1de11a2b52bc97ff2217f61eb8c1ae2ee03103298d040a73b8f6828a.jpg On Telegram, your messages are stored on the company's servers in an unencrypted form. Any sufficiently threatening government could get access to them 👀 And, it seems, they already have. Check this out: In 2018, Telegram was banned in Russia. In 2020, it was abruptly unbanned. https://image.nostr.build/23cd733ac8eef7458e0ff9daa0e15e77a3bb44cb3a457a417e2bcbdb0e050695.jpg In 2020, Durov was feeling the pressure. He had been funding the business out of his own pocket for years. He was planning to launch a cryptocurrency, but the SEC sued him just before the launch. He needed help. Russia represented 10% of his user base. So, he didn't hesitate... 👇 https://image.nostr.build/7b48e14238ab1bfbc31b8bdaa1a02bb1aca5314dc8a0fca913ca8993f09aa565.png It seems that Durov made some sort of "deal" with the Kremlin. The ban was lifted. Putin's defense forces even began using the app as a communication channel for the military. https://www.wired.com/story/the-kremlin-has-entered-the-chat/ Back to Baku, Azerbaijan. August 20, 2024. Durov and Putin in the city. Telegram goes offline for 3 hours in Moscow. Four days before the Telegram owner is "captured" in France. https://image.nostr.build/d7422237fec503c9cd60adb2bf9ed9269098cb2ba0fcb91cd24c0834b8975c1e.jpg Macron himself is a longtime Telegram user 🫥 Put the pieces together 🧩 Europe and Russia are at war. Any billionaire who owns a communication tool used by both sides would know how to protect themselves. It's hard to believe that Durov was "turned in by his girlfriend"... https://video.nostr.build/6c02a0151e30b0b81c51dda18180df06a7a0b831510d61300967750bcf532e34.mp4 https://video.nostr.build/1bf93fb2e833f0a74e1652cabb00e750a579bafa75daa8e6f6b388602700d435.mp4 Is Durov hiding from Putin? Or being retaliated against by the West? Perhaps we'll never know. What we can know is that now, the French government can read all the messages that Macron, that we, you, and our dogs have sent through Telegram.