Exclusive Telegram founder expresses concern over anti-terror bill
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Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram
Durov plans to visit Korea later this year
By Kim Yoo-chul
BARCELONA, Spain ― Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of secure messaging app Telegram, has expressed concern over the South Korean government’s push for an anti-terrorism bill, citing possible infringements of privacy and potential abuses of surveillance by the authorities.
The Park Geun-hye administration and the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) have been clashing over a bill that, if passed in the National Assembly, will grant the National Intelligence Service (NIS) greater authority to investigate individuals and organizations and collect information on the private communications of citizens.
President Park and the governing Saenuri Party are calling for the Assembly to approve the bill in order to establish powers, they say, which can help counter threats from North Korea and militant organizations such as the Islamic State group.
However, Durov raised questions about the efficacy of the bill’s content.
“I think this is overly simplistic. Measures that are being discussed will not work because, first of all, even if existing secure apps were blocked to the Korean market, terrorists would still be able to have access as they use virtual private networks (VPN) to disguise their location,” Durov said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress last week.
Durov, dubbed the “Russian Zuckerberg,” said the growing popularity of Telegram, which has attracted over 100 million active users in less than two years since its inception in 2013, reflects the service’s policy of prioritizing the protection of users’ privacy.
He said the bill may only enable furtherance of a form of “Big Brother,” the all-seeing system of state surveillance in George Orwell’s novel “1984.”
“Speaking particularly of Korea, given its neighbor to the North, South Koreans should be cautious not to introduce any such measures reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984,” he said. “I think that the government’s efforts should be more focused on finding solutions to these serious problems outside technology.”
Durov also said he supports Apple CEO Tim Cook in his stand not to hand over passcodes for iPhone users to authorities in the United States.
“There’s a real risk that if your iPhone gets stolen, without encryption you could be blackmailed, for example. If Apple builds tools to unlock encryption, I think that’s too dangerous.”
He said Apple is defending privacy and security for millions of people using iPhones.
“I know the situation could be the same for Samsung,” he said.
He said the next two years will be crucial for Telegram to find sustainable business models.
Durov said Telegram will accelerate efforts to develop applications and services that fit desktop and tablet experiences.
Telegram has shut down Islamic State (IS) public channels on its services after it heard that IS was using Telegram to broadcast and promote their propaganda.
Korean culture promotion
Durov said that he plans to visit Korea later this year for a long stay because he wants to talk with more Korean users of Telegram services and learn what they would like to see on the Telegram platform.
He said Telegram could be a tool to promote the Korean cultural wave or “hallyu.”
“I am well-aware that Korean youth are the trendsetters in Asia in terms of fashion, lifestyle and music. That’s why I believe Telegram could help promote this through the use of our channels to broadcast your own messages to the world,” he said. “By using Telegram, Korean users can further promote Korean culture.”
Durov said that Telegram will develop features to respond to the “specific needs” for the Korean consumers.
“We opened up our platform to third-party developers. We expect more and more Korean third-party developers to start leveraging our platform to introduce Korea-specific features,” he said. “Since last year, we’ve been focusing on creating emoticon stickers. Korean artists can upload stickers on our platform.”
Durov, who also founded Russia’s top social network VKontakte ― known as Facebook of Russia ― sold his shares in the company in 2013.
It was later renamed VK, after several run-ins with the Russian government.
In April of 2014, after he refused to hand over personal data from Ukraine opposition leaders from their VK accounts during Russia’s war with the Ukraine, he was ousted from his role as CEO of VK, and quickly left the country.