Pavel Durov Accuses French Intelligence of Geopolitical Motives Behind Telegram Data Request

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has publicly disputed the French government’s stated rationale for seeking user data from the encrypted messaging platform. In a May 19 post on X, Durov revealed details of his discussions with France’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), alleging their counterterrorism and child protection claims masked broader geopolitical objectives.

The DGSE approached us under the pretext of combating terrorism and child exploitation material, Durov stated. Not once did they reference child pornography during our dialogue. While French terror suspects’ IP addresses were discussed, their primary interest lay in monitoring activities across Eastern Europe—particularly Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Telegram’s systems have incorporated robust child protection mechanisms since 2018, including content fingerprinting technology and partnerships with NGOs. Durov characterized the French intelligence agency’s child protection arguments as a transparent pretext for political surveillance operations.