Pavel Durov: Telegram Has Never Shared Private Messages With Third Parties — Despite Ongoing French Charges

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has publicly stated that the platform has "never disclosed a single byte" of private messages to any third party, pushing back against the legal pressure he continues to face in France. The assertion comes as Durov remains under multiple charges brought by French authorities, a case that has drawn global attention to the intersection of platform liability, encryption policy, and state access to communications data.

The claim is significant in the context of ongoing regulatory debates across Europe, where governments have increasingly sought to compel messaging platforms to provide law enforcement access to encrypted communications. Telegram's end-to-end encryption is opt-in rather than default for most chats, a nuance that has long drawn scrutiny from privacy advocates and regulators alike.