The imperfect hero of free speech

Durov has become a hero in the eyes of those who support an unmediated internet, including those in cryptocurrency, even if that freedom leads people to use that network for all sorts of morally problematic and even illegal things. But Telegram, which is the channel of choice for almost everyone in Web3, isn’t quite the crypto nirvana we’d ideally like. Like tech journalist Casey Newton explain:

“Telegram is often described as an ‘encrypted’ messenger. But like Ben Thompson explains todayTelegram is not end-to-end encrypted like rivals WhatsApp and Signal. (Its “secret chat” feature. it is end-to-end encrypted, but not enabled by default on chat. The vast majority of chats on Telegram are not secret chats.) This means that Telegram can analyze the content of private messages, making it vulnerable to law enforcement requests for that data.”

Durov has often touted Telegram as a “secure messenger,” but outside of its secret chat feature, the service is more open to government intrusion than Signal, WhatsApp, and iMessage. Telegram is not Bitcoin, where transactions are unstoppable. It’s not a blockchain, which grants privacy in a different way than something like Telegram, which is structurally both a haven for free speech and a honeypot for intermediaries, be they criminal or government.

The beauty of blockchains is that we don’t have to debate the motivations and machinations of men like Elon Musk, Pavel Durov and Mark Zuckerberg. Freedom of expression is included in the code. The principles of free speech at play in Durov’s case should clearly have the support of the crypto community. But ideally we would have online commons that are truly free from government intrusion and the whims of single men, however well-intentioned.