Lex Fridman Podcast Review: Pavel Durov
I listened to the whole 04:34:09 Lex Fridman Podcast episode with Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram. Telegram is one of the most widely used social media-instant messaging services in the world. Telegram is considered one of the most secure messaging services in terms of user privacy and user data security. I’ve used Telegram myself and have it installed on my own phone. I didn’t know much about Pavel Durov before this podcast episode, but I do remember last year (2024) he was arrested in France and that made international news. According to French authorities, Pavel was arrested for refusing to work with the police and the lack of content moderation on Telegram that allegedly led to criminal activities. I saw the news clippings for the arrest in France and then forgot about the story until I listened to this Lex Fridman Podcast episode.
After listening to the full episode: I’ve come to the conclusion that this guy is absolutely unbelievable and a special person. Pavel Durov is a true inspiration and an example of someone who sticks to his principles and lives with integrity. His side of the story is completely credible and totally different from what’s been reported by major news outlets. This just goes to show the truth is often not what it seems. After suffering a lot due to the arrest in France and the restrictions placed on his travel, Pavel still runs Telegram according to a set of core principles and values. I could sense from the podcast that Pavel and the Telegram team promises to all Telegram users the following: integrity with respect to user data, user privacy, and freedom of expression. Pavel said it himself: even if he loses everything personally and suffers significant personal harm, he’s not willing to let any force alter the values of the Telegram platform. For his determination and strength, Pavel is an inspiration to anyone who strives to live with moral clarity and strives to stand on the side of freedom. Moreover, you can tell this guy is very smart and very humble about it. The moral clarity, discipline, intelligence, humility, and breadth of knowledge makes Pavel Durov one of the most interesting people I’ve come across in quite some time.
If you do the same things everyone else around you is doing, you don’t have any competitive advantage, and you don’t get to become outstanding at some point in your life. - Pavel Durov
Sometimes you realize there are just rare people in the world and Pavel Durov is definitely one of them. I would definitely encourage people to listen to the whole episode, even though it’s over four hours long. Speeding up the video may help!