Key Points
- Telegram founder Pavel Durov says the governments’ tolerance for privacy is decreasing.
- He believes Bitcoin and crypto-like innovative technologies can ensure ways to fight the monitoring of people’s Internet activity that breaks the fundamental right to privacy.
- Durov bootstraps his companies and projects with 100% ownership via fiat and Bitcoin holdings.
In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov, addressed the decreasing tolerance of governmental agencies for people’s privacy via Internet monitoring.
He also believes that the surging government surveillance will trigger the creation of innovative, secure communication devices inspired by crypto hardware wallets.
Founded in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov, Telegram is a highly secure and encrypted instant messaging platform that offers people more freedom and privacy in a world that sees a global fight against fundamental human rights.
The platform’s bot services help maintain the group ecosystem more easily, making it possible for group admins to fight against spammers.
Fighting governments’ efforts to suppress the right to privacy
Today, April 17, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, Pavel Durov disclosed the fact that governmental agencies are continuously making efforts to suppress the private exchange of information.
He stated that the world is on the path to becoming less amenable, and governments are less tolerant of people’s privacy. Durov highlighted that the trend goes on due to the technological power that the agencies are holding.
Ep. 94 The social media app Telegram has over 900 million users around the world. Its founder Pavel Durov sat down with us at his offices in Dubai for his first on-camera interview in almost a decade. pic.twitter.com/NEb3KzWOg8
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 16, 2024
In the interview, Carlson highlighted the massive user base of Telegram, which is now over 900 million, and the importance of this discussion with the platform’s founder.
Durov also believes that the growing oversight of governmental agencies will end up forming more and more innovations around hardware devices that aim to secure communications in a similar way people own hardware wallets to store crypto.
He also claimed that the US law enforcement agency, the FBI, attempted to persuade people who are affiliated with Telegram to install various backdoors for surveillance purposes.
He addressed the fact that the geopolitical neutrality of the UAE is the perfect example for entrepreneurs who are fighting for privacy and anti-surveillance moves. Durov believes that the UAE is the ideal location for neutral platforms such as Telegram that fight to defend user privacy and freedom of speech.
Telegram’s CEO also said that he avoids VC investments to prevent external influence on the operating ways of his platform. He also revealed that he holds a few hundred million dollars in fiat and Bitcoin. This allows him to bootstrap his companies and projects with 100% ownership.
Edward Snowden: the NSA is about to take over the Internet
The important interview comes just a couple of days after Edward Snowden also raised awareness about how the NSA is just a few days from “taking over the Internet,” but no mainstream media addresses the issue.
In his post on X, Snowden cited Elizabeth Goitein, who addressed a bill in danger of becoming law that would have any company or individual that offers any service be forced to assist in NSA surveillance.
Goitein is a nationally recognized expert on presidential emergency powers, government surveillance, and government secrecy.
The NSA is just 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 from taking over the internet, and it's not on the front page of any newspaper–because no one has noticed. https://t.co/qp5BimwOjI
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 15, 2024
Snowden was a computer intelligence consultant and whistleblower who leaked highly classified data from the NSA back in 2013 when he was an employee and subcontractor. Now, he’s a naturalized Russian citizen.