French National Assembly rejects bill to ban encryption on messaging apps including Telegram

The French National Assembly has rejected a bill that would have required Telegram and other messaging apps to create backdoors for law enforcement access, according to an X post by Solid Intel. If passed, the bill could have allowed the French government or surveillance agencies to inspect users' encrypted communications. Telegram founder Pavel Durov noted on his Telegram channel that this bill could lead to violations of user privacy. Telegram would rather withdraw from the French market than compromise its encryption, stating that such a move would undermine privacy and violate fundamental human rights. "In it’s 12-year history, Telegram has never disclosed a single byte of private messages," said Durov. He added that even if ordered by an EU court, Telegram would not disclose the content of criminal suspects’ messages—only their IP addresses and phone numbers.