Pavel Durov (@durov)

🚨 Two years ago, I was detained in Paris by police for 3 days — the longest they can hold someone before charging them. In an unprecedented move, French authorities accused the head of a major platform of crimes committed by its users. That investigation is still ongoing, although it makes less sense with each passing year. Why? Because we now have extensive evidence that Telegram was neither worse than other popular platforms at moderation, nor the worst at cooperating with authorities. So why was Telegram singled out? Over the last two years, we have seen a pattern emerge in multiple countries: Telegram is quietly asked to grant political favors — such as illegal censorship or surveillance. When we refuse, local media and “non-governmental” organizations launch orchestrated campaigns portraying Telegram as a cesspool of crime, from child pornography to terrorism. Our moderation is no worse than that of other major platforms. Yet these campaigns instill the idea that Telegram should be persecuted or restricted. Suddenly, officials start caring about crime and protecting children — but only on platforms that reject their secret political demands. Platforms that accept such deals get away with almost anything — including literally selling ads promoting child pornography. Is the French investigation against me political? It certainly fits the pattern we see elsewhere, mostly in authoritarian countries. And it definitely raises questions. In time, this investigation may itself be investigated — especially now that Macron’s war against free speech is facing pushback. This month, France’s Constitutional Council struck down his social media ban for children under 15 on freedom-of-expression grounds. In the end, freedom and truth will prevail ✊

Telegram has applied for the .gram domain zone. If the application is approved by ICANN, a billion Telegram users could get their own second-level domains — yourname.gram. Users would be able to set up their interactive websites hosted by Telegram — with one prompt ✨

Last night Apple briefly removed Telegram from the AppStore because a user had planted illegal porn in a public chat. Telegram was restored within hours. But I want to explain what happened — to warn other app developers and help protect online communities from similar attacks. Because Telegram quickly removes illegal content from public groups using all kinds of moderation tools, the attacker had to resort to a technical trick. He inserted AI-modified illegal content by editing an old message in an active group chat. As a result the content was effectively hidden from the group’s members, preventing them from seeing/reporting it. The attacker was a takedown extortionist: someone who demands ransom from group owners in exchange for not targeting their communities. These extortionists use automated accounts to plant illegal content in public groups and then report it directly to Apple, attempting to trigger the removal of legitimate communities whose owners refused to pay them. From a practical standpoint, illegal pornographic content in Telegram’s public groups is not a systemic problem. Our moderation is effective. The fact that attackers must resort to backdated, effectively invisible content and other technical tricks proves this. ⚠️ However, there are two important lessons here for app developers and online communities: — Extortionists have found a way to manipulate Apple into overreacting. Apple removed Telegram from the App Store before contacting us. This creates a potential systemic risk for every mobile app that hosts user-generated content. If an app used by more than a billion people can be removed from the App Store without prior warning, any app can be. — The tactics used by takedown extortionists are evolving, putting communities across social platforms at risk. Telegram has extensive experience identifying the tricks used by coordinated reporting gangs and protecting legitimate communities (even when doing so risks our own app being temporarily removed from the App Store). Other platforms may not be equally prepared. Stay vigilant! ☝️

🇬🇪Georgia is becoming a major business hub. The country’s economy doubled in 5 years and is growing by 8% a year. International tech companies pay 0% corporate tax and just 5% on dividends and salaries. Georgia is seriously underrated as a place to visit and do business.

Telegram now has a Rich Text Editor. It supports tables, headings, inline media, lists, AI content, formulas, and more. Available only to Premium subscribers, because otherwise we’d have to call it Poor Text Editor ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Banning social media for teenagers only puts them in greater danger. Teens are forced to switch to VPNs — and unlock far worse illegal content. We’ve seen this before. When the Russian government banned Telegram, 95% of Russian teenagers kept using it. They just moved to VPNs.

41 kidnappings of crypto holders in France in 3.5 months of 2026. Why? 🥖 French tax officials selling crypto owners' data to criminals (Ghalia C.) + massive tax database leaks. Now the state also wants IDs and private messages of social media users. More data = More victims.

📚 If you’re a student choosing what to focus on, pick MATH. It will teach you to relentlessly rely on your own brain, think logically, break down problems, and solve them step by step in the right order. That’s the core skill you’ll need to build companies and manage projects.