Pavel Durov

Which, by the way, I think everybody believes in.

I think the right to privacy...

is included in the constitution of most countries, at least most Western countries.

But it's still under attack almost every week.

And it often starts with well-meaning proposals.

Oh, we have to fight crime.

We have to do that.

We have to protect the children.

But at the end of the day, the result is the same.

People lose their right to such fundamental thing as privacy.

They sometimes lose their right to express themselves, to assemble.

And this is a slippery slope that we witnessed in pretty much every autocratic country or country that used to be free and then became autocratic.

No dictator in the world ever said, let's just strip you away from your rights because I want more power to myself and I want you to be miserable.

They all justified it.

with very reasonable-sounding justifications.

And then it came in stages, gradually.

And after a few years, people would find themselves in a position when they're helpless.

They can't protest.

Every message they send is monitored.

Perhaps some of them assume they're doing good, but interestingly,