Telegram founder accuses European Commission of user surveillance plans

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has claimed that the European Commission is allegedly planning to turn an internet age-verification app into a tool for monitoring EU citizens.

He made the statement on his Telegram channel.

According to Durov, the European Commission recently introduced an age-verification application presented as “privacy-respecting,” but he claims it was hacked "in just 2 minutes."

The entrepreneur argues that European regulators may use the incident as justification to redesign the system, potentially removing privacy protections.

“[The] Result — a surveillance tool sold as ‘privacy-respecting,’” Durov wrote.