France and Telegram: A “Encrypted” Relationship Despite Mutual Interests
If you open Telegram and search for an account of someone involved in French politics, you’ll notice that they are either connected or have been recently.
This is where the ambiguous relationship between France and Telegram, as well as its founder, comes from. It starts with the intensive activity of Emmanuel Macron’s entourage on the app and does not end with the founder’s arrest.
According to the American newspaper “Politico,” “The encrypted messaging app is passionately used within political and media circles, including by French President Emmanuel Macron himself.”
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Last Monday, while Telegram founder Pavel Durov was in detention by French police, Macron was identified as having been recently connected to the messaging platform, according to a former MP with the French president’s phone number.
Macron has been a Telegram user since the early days of his first presidential campaign. Nearly a decade later, the app is still widely used by government members and political officials of all ranks and parties, especially within pro-Macron circles.
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Durov, the Russian-born founder and CEO of Telegram, was unexpectedly detained upon arriving in France on Saturday night. The exact reason for his arrest has not yet been reported, but his detention has been extended.
According to a French judicial official not involved in the case but familiar with its background, cited by “Politico,” Telegram has “frustrated France due to its reluctance to cooperate with the authorities.”
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Telegram Responds
In a statement following Durov’s arrest, Telegram insisted that it “complies with EU laws” and that its CEO “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.”
The company added, “It is absurd to claim that the platform or its owner is responsible for abuses of the platform.”
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Security Concerns?
Recently, French authorities have tried to limit the use of Telegram and other messaging apps in official circles due to privacy concerns, according to the American newspaper.
In November last year, then-Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne prohibited ministers and their teams from using WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, considering that “these digital tools have security vulnerabilities and therefore the security of conversations and information exchanged through them cannot be guaranteed.”
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Senior officials in the French National Assembly also unsuccessfully urged legislators to “limit” their use of social media and messaging services, including Telegram.
In both cases, MPs and government members were encouraged to use lesser-known French alternatives.
Macron’s Dependence on Telegram
However, Macron’s own party, La République en Marche, continues to use a Telegram channel to send data and correspondence to journalists in a private channel with 150 press members, as well as to the Ministry of the Interior.
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Macron also has a public channel through which data and news are shared, followed by over 30,000 subscribers, as does the French presidency.
During the 2017 presidential campaign, French security officials had already warned Macron‘s camp about using Telegram.
According to the French newspaper “Libération,” one of Macron’s advisors said: “They told us we were being monitored, that we were at risk of hacking, and that we should be cautious with Telegram, as it is a Russian app.”
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In this context, Éric Bothorel, a deputy from La République en Marche focusing on internet-related issues, admitted to “the continued use of Telegram despite the fairly legitimate warnings.”
He described the protection levels provided by Telegram as “not the best, but not the worst.”
Christine Pires Beaune, a socialist MP and member of the French National Assembly’s administration, told “Politico,” “I do not use Telegram, only SMS and email – but I think it is used a lot [in the National Assembly].”
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Paul Durov
As for the founder of Telegram and CEO of the platform, who also holds Emirati citizenship, he has a long-standing relationship with France.
The Russian-born entrepreneur obtained French citizenship in 2021.
In April 2023, he changed his legal name in his French passport to “Paul Durov,” a French twist on the name Pavel Durov, as recorded in the Official Journal of the country.
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According to the French newspaper “Le Monde,” Durov became a French citizen through a special process allowing “the granting of nationality to a French-speaking foreigner who contributes through exceptional work to the influence of France and the prosperity of its international economic relations, at the government’s initiative.” The reasons for granting this nationality (contribution to France’s prosperity) have not been disclosed.
A spokesperson for the French presidency told “Politico” that the request for nationality for Durov came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated it “does not provide information on individual nationality procedures.”
