Durov: EU uses child protection as a pretext for mass surveillance

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has accused the European Union of using child-protection rhetoric to push mass surveillance and censorship measures.

In a post on X, Durov backed Danish programmer David Heinemeier Hansson and noted that EU surveillance proposals include a key exemption — messages of EU officials would not be scanned.

Durov said this carve-out clearly reveals the real motives behind the EU’s regulatory agenda.