Paris: The CEO of Telegram vowed that the app would leave France if authorities keep pushing for a grant to access messages. 'Telegram would rather exit a market than undermine encryption with backdoors and violate basic human rights,' Pavel Durov wrote Monday on X.

According to Anadolu Agency, Durov noted that the French National Assembly was 'wise' to reject a law last month that proposed a ban on encryption, which would have made France the first country to 'strip its citizens of their right to privacy.' The encryption dispute, however, was renewed after being advocated last Friday by the Paris Police Prefect, according to the Telegram CEO.

Durov emphasized the technical impossibility of ensuring that only police could access a backdoor, highlighting the risk of exploitation by foreign agents or hackers, potentially compromising private messages of law-abiding citizens. He argued that the law would not effectively combat drug trafficking, as criminals could still use smaller apps for communication despite the backdoor.

He stated that in compliance with the EU Digital Services Act, Telegram would only disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of criminal suspects with a valid court order, not the messages themselves. Durov also pointed out that the European Commission proposed a similar initiative for backdoors in messaging apps, warning that no country is immune to the gradual erosion of freedoms.

Durov concluded by stressing the importance of educating lawmakers on the role of encryption in protecting the privacy and safety of ordinary people, asserting that losing such protection would be a tragedy.