Escobar: EUR To Telegram - We're Coming To Get You!
The Pavel Durov saga is a narrative that promises to unfold for a long time. This is a classic example of an intense information war. Let’s try to connect some of the loose ends.
A high-ranking Russian analyst suggests that Durov’s arrest is linked to “anti-French protests in its former colonies, withdrawal from its traditional ‘sphere of influence’ where Telegram infrastructure was used to push anti-colonial and anti-Macronist narratives”.
Additionally, there was an “attempt to influence narratives on Ukraine both in Russian and the international media field, which is heavily reliant on Telegram infrastructure.”
Paris is indeed desperate to assert its relevance in terms of psy ops and influencing/special warfare in Ukraine.
However, as the analyst points out, the French lack the technological means to achieve this. This could have led to Macron deciding to “exercise a personal pressure campaign against Durov himself. French authorities must be rather desperate in trying to stay in the game of global politics. And Telegram today is (his italics) global politics.”
Paris eagerly awaited a significant break. When the pilot of Durov’s Embraer private jet submitted his flight plan, there was no arrest warrant for him in France. Only when the jet was en route to Le Bourget, Paris hastily filed the warrant. Durov was oblivious throughout.
In essence: Paris received a crucial heads up that he was flying into France – possibly via Durov’s Dubai-based, post-obsessive, social climbing girlfriend – and swiftly set the trap.
An Eminence in Jail
There’s a myth that the FSB in the past requested Durov for Telegram’s encryption keys. This is untrue. The FSB wanted Telegram to provide top access on investigations of serious crimes, on a case-by-case basis. This is a significant difference compared to what the US Government does with Meta or Twitter/X via their completely open backdoors.
Durov, however, was swayed by NATOstan’s “freedom and democracy” propaganda, rejected Russia, and left.
And this brings us to President Putin.
Putin had more important matters to attend to than meeting Durov in Baku, and the Kremlin has publicly denied the meeting. Durov was touring Central Asia and the Caucasus, and they happened to cross paths in Azerbaijan.
There’s one thing that Putin never tolerates: betrayal of Russia. And this applies to the letter to Durov.
When Durov went to the US, the Americans, predictably, demanded Telegram’s backdoors to surveil everyone. So he set up shop in Dubai and later applied for French citizenship.
Durov became a French citizen only 3 years ago – notably, before the launch of the SMO – via a special “eminent foreigner” program set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Very few are eligible; only a “French-speaking foreigner who contributes through their eminent action to the influence of France and the prosperity of its international economic relations”.
However, no “eminent action” was sufficient to keep him out of a French jail.
How to Get Those Keys
The European Commission (EC) in Brussels can be succinctly described as a notorious group of EUrocrat cowards and/or psychopaths cheerfully praising “our values”.
Predictably, the EC refuses to comment on Durov’s arrest, stating it’s a “national investigation”.
An “investigation” which happens to have been “encouraged” by the US Deep State, carried out since July 8 by vassal Macronist police, to the benefit of NATO and… the European Commission itself.
The charges against Durov revealed by France’s Prosecutor of the Republic should be destroyed in court by any competent legal team. Essentially, the accusations are that Durov himself is responsible for those abusing Telegram. He is “complicit” in every misdeed under the sun – from organized fraud to drug-trafficking – all the way to a vague accusation of providing encrypted services without a “certified declaration”.
The accusations about Telegram’s lack of moderation are false. For instance, Telegram actively censors correspondence inside the EU; EU residents cannot access countless chats and channels. Moreover, Telegram is not affected by the recent, hardcore neo-Orwellian EU law against mega social networks, because it harbors less than 45 million European users a day.
Now let’s focus on the motive.
The current liberal-totalitarian Euro-gulag, or EuroLag, is a massive power bloc that does not have access to Telegram’s content.
Telegram maintains its own servers around the world, and routing goes via Amazon, Cloudfare and Google. Since the start of Telegram, US intel/surveillance has the means to easily block it – if they choose to.
The EU is a different ball game. So here we have Brussels, via Paris, trying to acquire at least some control over Telegram – and social networks in general. A crucial reminder – which could be billed under the Pathetic Tech department: Europe has no (italics mine) social networks.
Hence the non-stop threats against Twitter/X and the neo-Orwellian Digital Services Act over the responsibility of platforms in terms of content, which applies to all of them, and not only Telegram.
The EU and France desperately want what the hegemonic power already has, in droves: access to everything, right here, right now, with no legal documentation whatsoever.
The key question now is: will they get it by applying pressure over Pavel Durov ? There’s no evidence he has Telegram’s encryption keys. What if they got the wrong guy?
Nikolai Durov, Pavels’ ultra-discreet brother, is the prime genius architect of Telegram: math master, two PhDs, gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad. The French would rather cut a deal – thus the extended interrogation: but that would imply breaking Pavel so he would influence Nikolai to hand over those fabled keys.
Why Now? And Who Profits?
Predictably, Durov’s interrogation continues with zero transparency. France is an excruciatingly secretive society, prone to absolute silence on serious matters, nerve-wracking slow, punctuated by rare formal declarations. It’s all about procedure – and the bureaucracy is stultifying.
Yet French bureaucracy may have given a precious hint on what really bothers them. They simply cannot accept that anyone uses – or provides – the means of “obfuscation” in terms of financial transactions, bypassing censorship and bypassing surveillance.
So this may go way beyond the obsession to get some or all of Telegram’s encryption keys. The French bureaucratic apparatus wants to go all out to suppress any possibility of any bypassing – while retaining the power to punish anyone.
If the saga continues, leading to a trial and eventually a 20-year prison sentence, that means Durov would not be broken facing the bureaucratic apparatus, and he will always remain “an accomplice”.
This seems unlikely. Would he give up unlimited glitz and glamour, in exchange for a daily stale baguette in a French jail?
Two more inevitable questions. Why now? Because the EU needs it, badly. And who profits? The leading candidates are the “esprit de corps” of ultra-regimented French bureaucracy and their Franco-European oligarch connections. Envy is also in the cards. Durov is Russian, an outsider, and Telegram – with a billion users worldwide – is a resounding success.
Anything can happen further down the line – including the blocking of Telegram in France and the EU. The Global Majority could not care less. Meanwhile, multitudes marvel at how a narcissist tech globalist could be so naïve to believe that liberal totalitarianism would ever protect his freedom.
Bottom Line
The Pavel Durov saga is a fascinating narrative that illustrates the power dynamics in global politics, technology, and the information war. It raises questions about freedom, privacy, and the lengths to which governments will go to maintain control. As the story unfolds, it's worth considering what this means for the future of digital communication and individual rights. What are your thoughts on this matter? Do you think Durov will succumb to the pressure, or will he stand his ground? Share this article with your friends and let's start a conversation. Remember, you can sign up for the Daily Briefing which is everyday at 6pm.
