The founder and lawyer from freedom of speech, Pavel Durov, was born on October 10, 1984 in St. Petersburg, Russia and demonstrated early talent for computer science, culminating the entrepreneur establishing several successful online social media platforms.

Studying at the State University of Saint St. Petersburg, Durov was inspired by the success of the social networking site on Facebook and its founder, Marek Zuckerberg – finally the founded platform of social media Vkontakte (VK) in 2006.

VK is a Facebook platform, but targeted at Russian speakers and is one of the largest social media platforms in the world.

The meteoric enhance in the platform finally attracted the attention of state organs who pressed the company to censor the platform and comply with government applications to provide information about users.

Durov refused to comply with these conclusions from a basic position on freedom of speech, online expressing and privacy of users, which meant that the founder of technology was removed from the company he started in 2014.

However, the founder of the technology was already working tough on his next undertaking before the departure of VK, a platform for sending a message that became a home brand in Crypto – Telegram.

Related: The tone of the Society is celebrated by Pavel Durov leaves France as a victory in freedom of speech

Pavel and his brother Nikolai Durov are running a telegram

The Durov brothers launched a telegram in 2013.

The telegram also has solid functions that include decentralized surfing on the web, mini-apts stream and games.

The platform also has a symbiotic relationship with an open network (tonnes) – a separate blockchain network, which has become the basis for users of the application for sending messages.

According to ForbesThe founder of Telegram has a net value of $ 17.1 billion as at March 16, 2025 – mainly through the ownership of the telegram.

In March 2024, the entrepreneur announced that the telegram was approaching profitability and considers the initial public offer to become a public company.

Pavel Durov is a libertarian and caught the ethos to the freedom to the telegram. In the post of January 2025 Durov wrote:

“I am proud that Telegram has supported freedom of speech long before it became politically safe. Our values ​​do not depend on American election cycles. “

The libertarian ethos of the founder of the telegram, commitment to freedom of speech and privacy finally placed the entrepreneur on the sight of the French government.

Pavel Durov arrested in France among the screams of politically motivated censorship

Pavel Durov was arrested in France on August 24, 2024, due to the lack of moderation of content on the telegram, and then accused by French prosecutors with participation with illegal actions and refusal to communicate with the authorities.

Shortly after his arrest, the founder of the telegram published a deposit and was released from custody, provided that he remained in France during court proceedings.

The arrest caused widespread scandal Among the cryptographic communities and freedom of speech, he tells around the world that condemned the French government for using state power, trying to force Pavel Durova into the censorship of the platform or giving the government to the telegram encryption keys.

French President Emmanuel Macron was accused of organizing a politically motivated arrest, the claim that the French denied, which caused more slack from the cryptographic community.

On March 15, Pavel Durov reportedly left France and went to Dubai, where the telegram has its headquarters, after receiving the consent of French law enforcement officers to leave the country.

It is not clear, however, how long Durov will remain in Dubai, because there is a global struggle for freedom of speech, privacy and autonomy.

Warehouse: Did Pavel Durov from Telegram commit a crime? Cryptographic lawyers weigh