900 million users. One arrest. The myth of privacy. ✈️🔒 We investigate the arrest of Pavel Durov in Paris (August 2024). We break down the reality of Telegram's Encryption, revealing that unlike Signal or WhatsApp, Telegram does not use End-to-End Encryption by default, leaving the "Cloud Chats" of nearly a billion users potentially accessible to governments.

1. The Encryption Lie: It’s not on by default. We analyze the code. We expose the critical difference between "Cloud Chats" (default, stored on servers) and "Secret Chats" (device-to-device). We explain why the proprietary MTProto protocol is viewed with skepticism by cryptographers compared to open standards, meaning most users are broadcasting their data to Telegram's servers without realizing it.

2. The French Arrest: The end of neutrality. We expose the geopolitics. We discuss why French authorities detained Durov at Le Bourget airport, charging him with complicity in the crimes committed on his platform (drug trafficking, CSAM). We analyze the shift from "Platform Immunity" to "Executive Liability," where CEOs are now personally handcuffed for the actions of their users.

3. The "Barbell" Strategy: Freedom or Anarchy? We explore the moderation. We discuss Telegram's unique approach: strict moderation on public channels (to stay on the App Store) but near-zero moderation on private groups. We ask: can a platform remain "neutral" when it becomes the primary coordination tool for both freedom fighters and terrorists?.

The full list of sources used to create this episode can be found on our Patreon under https://www.patreon.com/c/Morgrain