Durov: Sweating in the August Heat

Durov: Sweating in the August Heat

August is not Pavel Durov's favorite month. Australia's regulators accused Telegram, run and operated by Pavel Durov, of failing to remove terrorism-related information. A few days later, Apple took down the Telegram miniapp; that is, those prowling the semi-curated Apple online store could not download the Telegram Messenger application.

Apple World Today reported that this action was not for terrorism. Apple took down Telegram's miniapp "after a review found content that violated its guidelines against child sexual abuse material (CSAM)." Yep, kiddo pix. Click here for the source document

Once the app came down, the unnamed developer "promptly removed the content." It is not clear who notified the developer or who removed the offending "content." Whoever did what encouraged Apple to restore access to Telegram Messenger.

Was Pavel Durov enthusiastic about Apple's action? According to Mashable, Telegram's statement in the form of a comment to a journalist's social media post about the dust up was:

"I'm sure this stance will be applied equally to all other apps in the store, in the future right?" read the post, tagging Apple's official account. Telegram continued in the same tone on its main page, posting "reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated" along with an apple emoji. Click here for the source document

Against my research for my monograph "The Telegram Labyrinth," I can formulate several observations:

1. Pavel Durov remains willing to let his personality and attitude appear in his posts or posts by a person with access to his accounts. The reference in this item from Mashable reflects his apparent disdain for the content curation process used at Apple. Effective content filtering for kiddo pix should not have made their way into the Apple ecosystem in the first place. Plus, Telegram's own editorial controls obviously did not work either. Content creation should be added to someone's to-do list at Apple and, of course, at Telegram.

2. The quick response by Telegram supports the observation that the unilateral arrest of Pavel Durov in August 2024 has caused Pavel Durov to become more responsive. Will the French use his cooperation with Apple as a mark in his favor or will they move foward on the multiple serious online crime charges levied at Pavel Durov? My guess is that the French will not be impressed with Pavel Durov's fast action nor with his comment about the effectiveness of Apple's content curation process.

3. Pavel Durov and the organizations linked to him directly and indirectly have to pull some rabbits from their hats. The value of the GRAMcoin (formerly TONcoin and originally just plain GRAM) has eroded in the last 24 months. Social media reports suggest some staff churn and disappointment in the uptake of the Cocoon AI system. The people betting on the success of Alpha Compute (né AlphaTON Capital), TON Strategy Company, and TVM Ventures have watched what was supposed to be a bright, lucrative future for Telegram-linked activities have watched opportunity stagnate. Plus, the TON Foundation no longer has responsibility for the GRAMcoin and its technology. A possibility exists for Swiss regulators to take a close look at the "foundation" and its purpose.

The question is, "What's next for Telegram?" With three countries filing charges against Pavel Durov or his company, other countries may file similar charges. At some point, sufficient pressure may be exerted on the United Arab Emirates to re-evaluate its posture toward Pavel Durov and his Dubai-based operations.

As I write this, it is the fourth day of August. There are 27 to go.

Stephen E Arnold, August 4, 2026