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Durov is in self-imposed exile from the Russian government. His public image carries more weight than Zuckerberg ever could (I don't think Zuckerberg could bec

Durov is in self-imposed exile from the Russian government. His public image carries more weight than Zuckerberg ever could (I don't think Zuckerberg could become a public figure in the next decades like Gates is). From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Durov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Durov: > On 16 April 2014 Durov publicly refused to hand over data of Ukrainian protesters to Russia's security agencies and block Alexei Navalny's page on VK.[4] Instead he posted the relevant orders on his own VK page [23][24] claiming that the requests were unlawful. > On 21 April 2014 Durov was dismissed as CEO of VK. The company claimed it was acting on his letter of resignation a month earlier that he failed to recall.[4][25] Durov then claimed the company had been effectively taken over by Vladimir Putin's allies,[25][26] suggesting his ouster was the result of both his refusal to hand over personal details of users to federal law enforcement and his refusal to hand over the personal details of people who were members of a VK group dedicated to the Euromaidan protest movement.[25][26] Durov then left Russia and stated that he had "no plans to go back"[26] and that "the country is incompatible with Internet business at the moment".[4]

hayst4ck 6y ago
I am not really a conspiracy person. I am saying that because this will sound conspiratorial and I am aware of that. I certainly think I am looking at things from a probabilistic and alignment perspective. Is he a russian agent? Probably not. But, he's not dead or in prison, I'd say that counts against him. He's complied with fighting "extremeism" in Russia. If Russia did want a view into international communications they would have to publicly distance themself from him. I'm not saying it is the case, but I think the chance is pretty far from 0. Certainly everyone benefits from the appearance that he and Russia do not get along. The chance his co workers are russian is higher, and therefore the chance that Russia has leverage (money/property/family/blackmail etc) directly over at least one employee seems pretty non trivial. I don't see any good reason to believe Russia or himself are distant on purely the grounds that both of them say so. Is freedom/what's morally right a guiding light? Well, it's run out of Dubai, the middle east isn't exactly a shining star of liberal ideals. Not everything is encrypted automatically. Are they consistent? Company is supposed to be a non profit entity but isn't structured that way. Are they aligned with privacy? Their revenue model is ads, a revenue model with deep precedence for violations of privacy. I see no reason that he wouldn't take a zuckerbergian approach. I don't find telegram to be any more trustable than Facebook. If I were using a platform for political speech, something I could be blackmailed for, or anything else that would get a state actor interested in me both seem like equally bad choices.

hayst4ck 6y ago

I am not really a conspiracy person. I am saying that because this will sound conspiratorial and I am aware of that. I certainly think I am looking at things from a probabilistic and alignment perspective. Is he a russian agent? Probably not. But, he's not dead or in prison, I'd say that counts against him. He's complied with fighting "extremeism" in Russia. If Russia did want a view into international communications they would have to publicly distance themself from him. I'm not saying it is the case, but I think the chance is pretty far from 0. Certainly everyone benefits from the appearance that he and Russia do not get along. The chance his co workers are russian is higher, and therefore the chance that Russia has leverage (money/property/family/blackmail etc) directly over at least one employee seems pretty non trivial. I don't see any good reason to believe Russia or himself are distant on purely the grounds that both of them say so. Is freedom/what's morally right a guiding light? Well, it's run out of Dubai, the middle east isn't exactly a shining star of liberal ideals. Not everything is encrypted automatically. Are they consistent? Company is supposed to be a non profit entity but isn't structured that way. Are they aligned with privacy? Their revenue model is ads, a revenue model with deep precedence for violations of privacy. I see no reason that he wouldn't take a zuckerbergian approach. I don't find telegram to be any more trustable than Facebook. If I were using a platform for political speech, something I could be blackmailed for, or anything else that would get a state actor interested in me both seem like equally bad choices.