Why Is the Telegram Übermensch Rolling Over Like a Good Dog?
September 10, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I have been following the story of Pavel Durov’s detainment in France, his hiring of a lawyer with an office on St Germaine de Pres, and his sudden cooperativeness. I want to offer come observations on this about face. To begin, let me quote from his public statement at t.me/durov/342:
… we [Pavel and Nikolai] hear voices saying that it’s not enough. Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform. That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We’ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon.
The Telegram French bulldog flexes his muscles at a meeting with French government officials. Thanks, Microsoft. Good enough like Recall I think.
First, the key item of information is the statement “user count to 950M” [million] users. Telegram’s architecture makes it possible for the company to offer a range of advertising services to those with the Telegram “super app” installed. With the financial success of advertising revenue evidenced by the financial reports from Amazon, Facebook, and Google, the brothers Durov, some long-time collages, and a handful of alternative currency professionals do not want to leave money on the table. Ideals are one thing; huge piles of cash are quite another.
Second, Telegram’s leadership demonstrated Cirque de Soleil-grade flexibility when doing a flip flop on censorship. Regardless of the reason, Mr. Durov chatted up a US news personality. In an interview with a former Murdoch luminary, Mr. Durov complained about the US and sang the praises of free speech. Less than two weeks, Telegram blocked Ukrainian Telegram messages to Russians in Russia about Mr. Putin’s historical “special operation.” After 11 years of pumping free speech, Telegram changed direction. Why? One can speculate but the free speech era at least for Ukraine-to-Russia Messenger traffic ended.
Third, Mr. Durov’s digital empire extends far beyond messaging (whether basic or the incredibly misunderstood “secret” function). As I write this, Mr. Durov’s colleagues who work at arm’s length from Telegram, have rolled out a 2024 version of VKontakte or VK called TONsocial. The idea is to extend the ecosystem of The One Network and its TON alternative currency. (Some might use the word crypto, but I will stick with “alternative”.) Even though these entities and their staff operate at arm’s length, TON is integrated into the Telegram super app. Furthermore, clever alternative currency games are attracting millions of users. The TON alternative currency is complemented with Telegram STAR, another alternative currency available within the super app. In the last month, one of these “games”—technically a dApp or distributed application — has amassed over 35 million users and generates revenue with videos on YouTube. The TON Foundation — operating at arm’s length from Telegram — has set up a marketing program, a developer outreach program with hard currency incentives for certain types of work, and videos on YouTube which promote Telegram-based distributed applications, the alternative currency, and the benefits of the TON ecosystem.
So what’s causing Mr. Durov to shift from the snarling Sulimov to goofy French bulldog? Telegram wants to pull off at IPO or an initial public offering. In order to do that after the US Securities & Exchange Commission shut down his first TON alternative currency play, the brothers Durov and their colleagues cooked up a much less problematic approach to monetize the Telegram ecosystem. An IPO would produce money and fame. An IPO could legitimize a system which some have hypothesized retains strong technical and financial ties to some Russian interests.
The conversion from free speech protector with fangs and money to scratch-my-ears French bulldog may be little more than a desire for wealth and fame… maybe power or an IPO. Mr. Durov has an alleged 100 or more children. That’s a lot of college tuition to pay I imagine. Therefore, I am not surprised: Mr. Durov will:
- Cooperate with the French
- Be more careful with his travel operational security in the future
- Be the individual who can, should he choose, access the metadata and the messages or everyone of the 950 million Telegram users (with so darned few in the EU to boot)
- Sell advertising
- Cook up a new version of VKontakte
- Be a popular person among influential certain other countries’ government professionals.
But as long as he is rich, he will be okay. He watches what he eats, he exercises, and he has allegedly good cosmetic surgeons at his disposal. He is flexible obviously. I can hear the French bulldog emitting dulcet sounds now as it sticks out its chest and perks its ears.
Stephen E Arnold, September 10, 2024
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