Last month, the French Senate nearly passed a legislative initiative that would require messaging apps to create a "backdoor" for police access to encrypted messages. This controversial bill was rejected by the National Assembly, marking a victory for digital rights advocates in the country. However, just three days ago, the police prefect of Paris reiterated support for this initiative, as reported by Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

Durov commended lawmakers for rejecting a "law that could have made France the first country to strip its citizens of the right to privacy." He warned that any embedded "backdoors" could be exploited by malicious parties, from foreign agents to hackers, jeopardizing the private communications of law-abiding citizens.

While supporters of the bill argue that it would aid in the fight against crime, Durov is skeptical about its efficacy. "Even if major encrypted platforms were weakened, criminals would simply shift to dozens of lesser-known apps and secure their communications with VPNs," he explained.

Durov noted that Telegram, used by over 700 million people worldwide, has adhered to a strict no "backdoors" policy for 12 years. "We would rather exit the market than betray encryption and violate basic human rights," he emphasized, comparing Telegram's approach to competitors who "trade privacy for market share."

According to the EU Digital Services Act, he stated, Telegram complies with lawful court orders by disclosing only IP addresses and phone numbers of suspects – but never the content of their messages. "We have never transmitted a single byte of private messages," Durov asserted.

Despite the recent defeat for lawmakers in France, Durov warned that the fight for encryption is far from over. In March, the European Commission proposed a similar initiative to implement "backdoors" in messaging apps across the European Union.

Although Durov positions Telegram as an end-to-end encrypted messenger, he has faced criticism for overstating its security. Notably, in 2021, Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike claimed that even Facebook Messenger offers better privacy protection than Telegram, as end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is only activated in "secret chats" and not enabled by default for all conversations.