The article “Pavel Durov and a digital strategic stalemate” has been published

The Journal “Russia in global politics” No. 6 for 2024 published the article “Pavel Durov and a digital strategic stalemate” by Evgenii Diskin Research Fellow at the International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration at the HSE University.

The article was prepared within the framework of the Basic Research Program at the HSE University and now is available for download on the journal's website. 

The publication argues that the arrest of Pavel Durov in France may be a significant threat to the digital and information sovereignty of the Russian Federation. Evgenii Diskin links the accusations of «promoting child pornography» and other serious crimes against Durov with attempts by Western countries to restrict freedom of speech on the internet and control alternative platforms such as Telegram. This conclusion is made on the basis that the charges against Durov are unique and not brought against the leaders of other messengers (eg, Signal), whose level of anonymity is significantly higher than Telegram. 

The internet platform, whose number of users reached 1 billion people, plays a huge role in providing access to Russian users to the world information space, in ensuring information exchange within the country, Including in the framework of state and municipal administration. Nevertheless, there is an illusion that Telegram is a friendly or even «domestic platform» which will despite everything ensure Russia’s interests in the information space, for example, refuse to execute sanctions against Russian news agencies. However, there is no reason to believe that this policy will be maintained in the long term and a strategy for further action by the Russian Federation is needed. 

In particular, the article points out the need to develop a joint position of BRICS countries to protect information sovereignty and ensure freedom of expression on the Internet. This task could be accomplished by setting up a special working group within the BRICS group.