On October 10, 2025, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov marked his 41st birthday not with celebration, but with a somber warning: the free internet, as generations have known it, is teetering on the edge of collapse. In a series of public messages posted to X (formerly Twitter) and his official Telegram channel, Durov painted a stark picture of a world sliding rapidly towards digital authoritarianism, with Western democracies at the forefront of what he described as a global rollback of fundamental rights and freedoms.
“I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating,” Durov confessed, setting the tone for a message that was less birthday reflection and more urgent call to arms. “Our generation is running out of time to save the free Internet built for us by our fathers. What was once the promise of the free exchange of information is being turned into the ultimate tool of control.” According to Durov, the very nations historically viewed as champions of liberty are now introducing “dystopian measures” that threaten the fabric of digital freedom.
He singled out several high-profile policies as evidence of this trend. In the United Kingdom, the rollout of digital IDs has sparked fears among privacy advocates that personal data could be misused or exploited by the state. Meanwhile, Australia’s introduction of mandatory online age checks for social media platforms has raised alarms about mass data collection and the surveillance not only of minors, but adults as well. Perhaps most controversial of all is the European Union’s so-called Chat Control proposal, which would require encrypted messaging services to allow authorities to scan private messages before they are sent—a move critics say undermines the very foundation of secure, private communication.
“Once-free countries are introducing dystopian measures such as digital IDs (UK), online age checks (Australia), and mass scanning of private messages (EU),” Durov wrote. He didn’t stop there. “Germany is persecuting anyone who dares to criticize officials on the Internet. The UK is imprisoning thousands for their tweets. France is criminally investigating tech leaders who defend freedom and privacy.”
These accusations, though sweeping, echo growing concerns among civil liberties groups and digital rights advocates across Europe and beyond. The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), for instance, has been criticized for granting the European Commission and major tech platforms unprecedented power over online content. Supporters say such measures are necessary to combat hate speech, misinformation, and criminal activity in the digital age. But detractors, including Durov, warn that these laws open the door to preventive censorship and the end of online anonymity.
Durov’s message is not merely a critique of government policy—it is a lament for what he sees as the loss of a foundational dream. “What began as a project to empower individuals against centralized power has become an instrument of total control,” he argued. “We’ve been made to believe that the greatest fight of our generation is to destroy everything our forefathers left us: tradition, privacy, sovereignty, the free market, and free speech. By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction—moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological.”
He warned that the liberal democracies that once championed freedom of expression are now adopting the same types of censorship they formerly condemned in authoritarian regimes. “We’re asleep,” Durov concluded, “and when we wake up, it may already be too late.” He closed his message with a chilling note: “So no, I’m not going to celebrate today. I’m running out of time. WE are running out of time.”
Durov’s warnings come against the backdrop of personal and professional challenges. Just months before his birthday statement, he was detained by French authorities on allegations that Telegram was being used for criminal activities, including drug trafficking and cybercrime. The incident forced Telegram to update its terms of service and privacy guidelines, clarifying how it cooperates with law enforcement on valid legal requests. Despite this, Durov has maintained that the company will continue to uphold strong privacy standards and resist attempts to turn Telegram into a tool of surveillance.
His stance resonates strongly within the cryptocurrency community, where privacy has long been a core principle. The crypto ecosystem, born out of distrust in centralized systems, has positioned itself as a refuge for those seeking alternatives to mainstream platforms that increasingly operate under the watchful eyes of regulators and state agencies. Durov’s work with the TON blockchain, developed alongside Telegram, is part of that broader movement to empower individuals through decentralized, peer-to-peer technologies.
Durov’s critique of Western governments is particularly pointed. He accuses the political and media elite of misleading society into viewing the defense of tradition, sovereignty, family, free markets, and free speech as “reactionary” or “dangerous,” when in fact, he argues, these values are the foundation of every free society. “We’ve been fed a lie,” Durov wrote, “We’ve been made to believe that the greatest fight of our generation is to destroy everything our forefathers left us.”
His message has struck a chord with many who fear that the digital age, once heralded as a new frontier for liberty and creativity, is rapidly becoming a mechanism for surveillance and control. The irony, Durov points out, is that liberal democracies are now embracing the very censorship and monitoring techniques they once decried in authoritarian regimes. This shift, he warns, could mean that the current generation will be remembered as “the last one that had freedoms—and allowed them to be taken away.”
As governments across the globe continue to grapple with the challenges of regulating the digital space, the debate over privacy, security, and freedom is unlikely to subside. For Durov and his supporters, however, the stakes could not be higher. They argue that the choices made today will determine whether the internet remains a bastion of free expression—or becomes, in Durov’s words, “the ultimate tool of control.”
In the end, Durov’s birthday message stands as both a warning and a rallying cry. Whether his call to action will resonate widely or fade into the background noise of digital discourse remains to be seen. But for now, his words serve as a potent reminder of just how fragile the freedoms of the online world can be.
