in World News Telegram Founder Claims U.S. Intelligence Attempted to Hire His Employee and Sought ‘Backdoor’ Access to Spy on Users
‘Biden’s FBI Pressurised Me’
In an explosive interview with Tucker Carlson, Pavel Durov, Russian-born Emirati–French entrepreneur and the founder of the popular instant messaging app Telegram, made shocking revelations about the U.S. government’s attempts to infiltrate the application widely known for its strong stance on user privacy.
Durov claimed that the FBI expressed interest in creating a ‘backdoor’ into the Telegram app, ostensibly to spy on users.
This, according to Durov, was a significant factor in his decision to reconsider establishing the company’s headquarters in San Francisco, opting for a global, decentralized approach to avoid U.S. government pressure.
“We received too much attention from the FBI, the security agencies, wherever we came to the US,” Durov recounted, noting how Biden’s FBI intensified their focus whenever his team was in the U.S.
“Last time I was in the U.S., I brought an engineer working for Telegram, and there was an attempt to secretly hire my engineer behind my back by cybersecurity officers,” he said.
Carlson pressed on, asking whether the U.S. government aimed to employ Durov’s engineer to crack Telegram or write code for them.
“They were trying to persuade him to use certain open-source tools that would be integrated into Telegram’s code, which, in my understanding, would serve as backdoors,” Durov said.
This revelation brings to light the U.S. government’s purported efforts to undermine the privacy and security that Telegram promises its users.
According to Durov, such a backdoor would not only enable the U.S. to spy on Telegram users but potentially other governments as well.
“FBI wanted to establish a relationship to control Telegram better. But for us, running a privacy-focused social media platform, that probably wasn’t the best environment to be in,” he said.
After the FBI’s interference, Durov abandoned the idea of establishing his company in San Francisco.