Parvel Durov's painful confession on his birthday: Our generation is wasting time watching the destruction of the free internet! He revealed that he doesn't use a mobile phone.

On his 41st birthday, Telegram founder Pavel Durov did not hold a celebration, but instead published a long article that shocked the tech world. He stated, “Our generation is wasting time, watching helplessly as the free internet is being destroyed.” He warned that the internet, which once symbolized information freedom, is rapidly being transformed into the ultimate tool for global surveillance.

Parvel Durov: Our generation is wasting time watching the free internet being destroyed.

The full text of Parvel Durov is as follows:

I turned 41, but I don't want to celebrate. Our generation is gradually running out of time to save the once free internet that was built by our parents. That space, which symbolized free communication and the collision of ideas, is now being transformed into the most powerful tool for surveillance and control.

Once a free country, is now rolling out dystopian measures. The UK is implementing digital identity (Digital ID), Australia is mandating online age verification, and the EU is attempting to scan everyone's private messages. Germany is persecuting anyone who dares to criticize officials online, the number of people imprisoned in the UK for tweets has reached thousands, and France is conducting criminal investigations against tech leaders defending freedom and privacy.

A dark, dystopian world is rapidly approaching, and we are asleep. Our generation is likely to become the last generation in history to truly possess freedom, and also the generation that allows freedom to be taken away. We have been fed a lie; we are told that the greatest mission of this generation is to destroy everything our ancestors left us: tradition, privacy, sovereignty, free markets, and freedom of speech.

But the fact is, when we betray the legacy of these predecessors, we are doomed to self-destruction: morally, intellectually, economically, and even biologically. So today, I will not celebrate. I am losing time, and we are all losing time.

Parvel Durove's concerns about the EU Chat Control resonate with the YC founder.

Today, (15, Parvel Durov also stated on Twitter: “Today, the EU has nearly stripped away your privacy rights. The EU is about to vote on a law that forces applications to scan every private message, turning everyone’s phone into a spying tool. Germany's sudden stance has saved our rights, but freedom is still under threat.”

The EU was originally scheduled to vote on Chat Control this week, but Germany cast a dissenting vote at the last moment, preventing the bill from passing.

)Telegram founder worries about EU Chat Control bill: France attempts to monitor all users' chat rooms(

Famous incubator Y Combinator founder Paul Graham subsequently shared an article by Parvel Durov. Interestingly, Graham has always advocated for a life of digital moderation, stating, “Unless I have to go somewhere to meet someone, I won't take my phone.”

Coincidentally, Parvel Durov recently mentioned on the Lex Fridman Podcast that his lifestyle includes no smoking, no drinking, and no coffee. He swims for several hours, does 300 push-ups, and takes ice baths. What is most shocking is that, as the founder of a messaging software, he himself does not use his phone much.

This article is a painful confession by Parvel Durov on his birthday: our generation is wasting time watching the destruction of the free internet! He revealed that he doesn't use a mobile phone. First appeared in Chain News ABMedia.