Telegram founder Pavel Durov warns: The free internet is endangered, the era of surveillance devours digital freedom.

On his 41st birthday, Telegram founder Pavel Durov chose to forgo celebrations and issued an urgent warning on the X platform, stating that the free internet is on the brink of extinction due to global surveillance trends, calling for contemporary individuals to unite and defend the last line of digital freedom. (Background: Telegram founder Pavel Durov exposed the French intelligence agency: pressuring to censor platform content, threatening to give me "legal leniency") (Additional background: Telegram founder Durov reveals: living expenses are funded entirely by Bitcoin rather than profits from the messaging app) As he approaches his 41st birthday, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov chose to abandon celebrations and instead awaken the world with a heavy, urgent post. Today (October 10), he posted on the X platform, warning that the global "free internet" is facing an unprecedented crisis, claiming that this generation may become the last in history to enjoy digital freedom unless immediate action is taken to stop the current trend of surveillance. I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating. 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. Once-free countries… — Pavel Durov (@durov) October 9, 2025 From freedom to control, privacy is at risk Durov stated in his post, "We are running out of time to save the free internet that our fathers built for us." He pointed out that the internet, which once promised free exchange of information, is now being transformed into "the ultimate tool of control." He cited the "dystopian measures" from multiple countries as examples, including the digital identification cards introduced in the UK, online age verification in Australia, and the EU's plans to scan private messages on a large scale, which he believes are quietly stripping people of their basic rights. He further criticized Germany for persecuting individuals who criticize officials online, the UK for imprisoning thousands over tweets, and France for launching criminal investigations against tech leaders defending freedom and privacy. Durov warned, "A dark, dystopian world is rapidly approaching, and we are still asleep." He believes that if this trend is not curbed, contemporary individuals may leave a shameful record in history for allowing freedom to be taken away. A warning against betraying ancestral heritage Durov's remarks are not only aimed at the technical level but also elevate to cultural and value dimensions. He criticized, "We have been misled to believe that our generation's greatest battle is to destroy everything our ancestors left us: tradition, privacy, sovereignty, free market, and freedom of speech." He believes that this betrayal has pushed humanity onto a path of "self-destruction," encompassing moral, intellectual, economic, and even biological collapse. Therefore, he refuses to celebrate on his birthday and emphasizes, "My time is limited, our time is limited." Background: Global surveillance trends Durov's warning resonates with the current global digital surveillance trends. For instance, the EU's "Chat Control" proposal, which attempted to pass in October 2025, aims to require encrypted messaging platforms to scan private messages. Although it has been temporarily blocked amid intense controversy, the threats posed by this inclination are not to be underestimated: a 2023 report from the European Data Protection Board has indicated that such measures may lead to mass surveillance and threaten encryption security. A similar situation is occurring in Durov's home country of Russia. According to data from Human Rights Watch in 2022, critics of Putin in Russia could face seven years in prison, while Durov has been in exile since 2014 for refusing to comply with the Kremlin's censorship demands on the VK platform. Durov's birthday declaration is not just a personal expression but also a microcosm of the contemporary digital freedom controversy. As surveillance technology and regulations advance, whether the world can uphold the promise of the "free internet" has clearly become an urgent priority.