Moscow claims that the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in Paris is an attack on freedom of expression. However, experts say the Kremlin could exploit the international controversy to exploit one of the few platforms that has escaped censorship.

The Kremlin has been trying to get its hands on Telegram for years to “expand” its power to censor and control content on the app after Durov, 39, fled the country in 2014 when he reportedly refused to hand over encryption keys, said George Barros of the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War think tank.

“The Kremlin sees Telegram as a liability,” Barros told the Post. “It is the largest platform in Russia that the Kremlin does not control.”

Barros speculated that if Russian diplomats succeeded in pressuring France to extradite him to Russia, the Kremlin could gain influence over the St. Petersburg-born billionaire.

“If they can take him into custody and arrest him and put pressure on him, then they could try to get the keys to Telegram, which is something Durov has been fighting against for years,” Barros added. “That would be very bad.”

Christine Dugoin-Clément, a researcher and Ukraine-Russia expert at the Sorbonne Business School in Paris, said Telegram, which has more than 900 million users worldwide, had become a cornerstone of Moscow’s military after attempts to ban the platform failed in 2018.

With the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the app has become the first choice for officials and soldiers to communicate and coordinate their attacks, Dugoin-Clément said.

“They use it to exchange files and videos, as well as notes on military operations,” she added, noting that Telegram was used extensively by the head of the Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who rebelled against the Kremlin last year and then died when his private jet exploded in mid-flight.

“Prigozhin would not have been able to grow and the Wagner Group would not have become what it is if there had not been a platform like Telegram to spread advertising and criticism and expand recruitment and patronage networks,” Barros added.

Dugoin-Clément said that in addition to its military use, Telegram “has become a tool of the Kremlin and pro-Russian bloggers to spread misinformation.”

Russia is so dependent on the app that, according to the Russian online portal Baza, after Durov’s arrest, reports emerged that Kremlin officials were deleting their accounts.

Margarita Simonyan, a Russian state media manager and propagandist, used the app on Sunday to call on everyone to immediately delete their “sensitive conversations and chats” and stop using the app in the future.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov scoffed at the idea, telling reporters on Tuesday that such efforts were “utterly stupid.”

But while Telegram is a powerful tool for the Kremlin, it also gives its critics the opportunity to communicate with Russian President Vladimir Putin and challenge him in ways that would not be possible on other channels.

“And as for Durov’s arrest, I am not convinced that this is a good thing,” Barros said, suggesting that there could be a mass exodus from the platform.

“If there is indeed a mass exodus from Telegram, that would be terrible,” he said. “The reason is that the other platforms that these people could go to are controlled by the Russian state.”

“They will be found, they will be silenced, they will be censored,” he added.

Dugoin-Clément agreed with this analysis, saying this could be an opportunity for Moscow to take action against the platform and demand that its most prominent users hand over information about their thousands of followers.

Despite the existing problems with freedom of expression, neither Barros nor Dugoin-Clément hastily labelled Durov a “champion of freedom of expression”.

Dugoin-Clément referred to recent reports that Durov had allegedly tried to meet with Putin; the Kremlin denied these allegations.

“And if you look at all of Telegram’s major investors, you’ll see that many of them are Russian oligarchs and old friends of Putin,” she added.

Durov, who was arrested at a Paris airport on Saturday, insisted that Telegram is a neutral social media platform.

Durov, 39, is suspected of involvement in global drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud, allegedly carried out through Telegram because of the company’s unwillingness to cooperate with police, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

In a statement, Telegram said on Sunday that it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.”