Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging service and one of the most influential figures in the digital world, has issued a stark warning about the growing trend of limiting freedom of expression in Western governments: “Our generation is running out of time to save the free Internet.”
In his latest public message, published on his 41st birthday, the entrepreneur laments that the original dream of digital freedom is being replaced by a system of mass surveillance promoted by Western political and economic elites.
What began as a project to empower individuals against centralized power, Durov argues, has become an instrument of total control. “Once-free countries are introducing dystopian measures such as digital IDs in the UK, online age checks in Australia, and the mass scanning of private messages in the European Union,” he warns. Each of these policies, presented under the pretext of safety or child protection, represents yet another step toward preventive censorship and the end of online anonymity.
Durov gives concrete examples:
Germany is persecuting those who dare to criticize public officials, the UK is imprisoning thousands for their posts on social media, and France is criminally investigating tech entrepreneurs who defend freedom and privacy.
Three Western powers, three symptoms of the same disease: the systematic erosion of fundamental rights hidden behind the polished language of “digital progress.”
His message is not merely a critique—it’s an urgent call to action. “We’ve been made to believe that the great struggle of our generation is to destroy everything our forefathers left us: tradition, sovereignty, family, the free market, and free speech,” Durov writes. He believes the political and media elite have convinced people that defending these values is “reactionary” or “dangerous,” when in fact they are the foundation of every free society.
Durov’s warning comes as governments across Europe tighten control over the digital space. The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) grants the European Commission and major tech platforms unprecedented power over online content. Meanwhile, the rollout of digital IDs and social scoring systems—already being tested in some countries—threatens to reduce citizens to traceable data points, monitored and potentially punished for their opinions.
The irony is striking: 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 concludes, “and when we wake up, it may already be too late.”
His final words leave no room for doubt: “I’m not going to celebrate today. I’m running out of time. WE are running out of time.” It’s a warning that goes beyond the digital sphere—a call to an entire civilization that seems to have forgotten how hard freedom was to win, and how easily it can be lost.
