On September 23, Telegram founder Pavel Durov posted on his personal channel that users who violate the terms of service by abusing public channels for illegal activities may have their IP addresses and phone numbers disclosed to relevant authorities under legitimate requests. Previously, Pavel Durov was arrested by French police for allegedly allowing criminal activities on Telegram. He was released on bail but remains under judicial supervision and must report to the police every two weeks.
It is worth noting that Telegram has always been known for its robust privacy protection and security. With its large user base and open API, Telegram has become the go-to platform for Web3 applications. Telegram officially supports the $TON token for all channel-related transactions, facilitating Telegram’s position as an interface for Web2 and Web3 financial flows. Furthermore, it has integrated The Open Network (TON) into its application interface, creating an ecosystem that spans decentralized finance, domain names, gaming, and many other sectors.
This has made Telegram an essential tool for almost all blockchain projects to build their communities. However, in the face of increasing regulatory demands from global authorities, Telegram had to make corresponding adjustments — Pavel Durov’s compromise by “providing user IP” is a notable example of such concessions after falling into legal trouble.
The statement by Pavel Durov has sparked widespread discussion and concern among Telegram users and industry professionals. As a staunch advocate of privacy protection, his move was seen as a significant compromise that could undermine the trust users have placed in Telegram and potentially have a far-reaching impact on its global business. Especially as global regulatory pressures on digital currencies and blockchain projects continue to increase, whether Telegram can maintain its leadership in privacy protection while complying with legal regulations has become a focal point of attention in the industry.
Compared to other mainstream social platforms, Telegram’s advantage lies in its non-reliance on an advertising model and its non-commercial use of user data, which has always given it a unique competitive edge in data privacy protection. Its end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) private chats and group features are widely praised by users. However, as global compliance pressures increase — especially as governments worldwide tighten their grip on illegal activities on social media platforms — the balance Telegram maintains between compliance and privacy protection is becoming increasingly fragile.
In recent years, Telegram has experienced rapid user growth, with global users exceeding 700 million as of 2024, and over 500 million monthly active users. Against this backdrop, Durov’s compromise might be driven by the need to ensure the company’s lawful operation and avoid more severe legal consequences. However, this decision is considered by some users as a “betrayal,” with some even suggesting they would consider switching to more privacy-focused decentralized social platforms like Mastodon or Session.
Meanwhile, the Web3 community is closely watching Telegram’s next steps. As one of the most popular decentralized community platforms, every policy change by Telegram could have profound implications for project teams and users. Experts point out that although Telegram restricts the disclosure of users’ IP addresses and phone numbers to “legal requests,” this action might still prompt more blockchain project teams and individual users to seek alternative platforms with stricter privacy protections. For project teams that heavily rely on Telegram for community management, marketing, and transactional communications, this undoubtedly presents new challenges.
Additionally, Telegram’s deep integration with The Open Network (TON) has also been affected. As a blockchain native to the Telegram community, TON has always been a key part of Telegram’s strategy in the Web3 world. The policy shift may shake the confidence of some project teams within the TON ecosystem, potentially impacting the development of its entire blockchain ecosystem. However, Durov’s move might be aimed at preventing Telegram from being blocked or facing more severe sanctions globally. After all, ensuring the platform’s continued operation may take precedence over maintaining extreme privacy protection policies that could pose a greater existential threat to Telegram.
Looking ahead, how Telegram navigates the balance between compliance and privacy protection in various regulatory environments around the world will be crucial to its position as the preferred social platform for the Web3 community. In regions with stringent data privacy regulations, such as Europe and the United States, Telegram may need to invest more resources in addressing data compliance issues. At the same time, in emerging markets like Asia and Africa, Telegram may continue to attract more users with its relatively lenient privacy protection policies and support local Web3 project teams.
In summary, Pavel Durov’s latest statement has brought Telegram to a crossroads between privacy protection and regulatory compliance. With global users’ heightened focus on privacy protection and increasingly stringent regulatory environments worldwide, whether Telegram can find a path that satisfies compliance requirements without losing user trust will directly impact its future position in the social and blockchain domains.
