Pavel Durov, the CEO of telegram, and one of the people responsible for creating the TON coin, that sponsors Codeforces, was arrested. Source
The reason is probably related to Telegram allowing too much freedom of speech, or in other words, not making a harsh enough control over criminal activities there. I’m sharing it because this is some hot drama related to codeforces. Pavel is the brother of Nikolai Durov, who might be considered a genius. He won gold at IMO, IOI and was ICPC champion is his day. He also designed TON coin.
That is the drama. Thanks for reading it :)
Will Codeforces still have enough sponsor money?
No. Mike told me the electricity bill will come due in 2 hours and he has no money to pay for it anymore. So enjoy your last few moments
So I need to write code on paper and mail it to Mike like this right?
This comment has more likes than the blog
this is not the first time this scenario has occurred
LMAO, crazy how some people think that this is serious XD
But Cf is still working
so can cf still work like before?
No.But I want to free Duorv!
Durov 3x
I suggest Mike to make codeforces a paid platform in case it loses the sponsor
This contradicts the original intention of Codeforces' establishment
Like you know what it was created for
yes he knows, as Mike has stated several times. your statement was stupid, and you doubled down with an ever dumber one. smh
Enlighten me then
But we don't want spend,We want a free online judge!
"Born on October 10, 1984"
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU
big dan
# freedurov
no lets just get near ai to sponser cf
Breaking news: Codeforces introduces a new round—solve Pavel's legal problems!
freedurov i was enjoying cf i started 6 months ago
W pfp btw
cuz its the VRO!!
lmao, EU proves that it's a totalitarian shithole once again
These days, people in the UK are getting imprisoned for "hate speech." How the mighty have fallen.
And this underlines how great the First Ammendment is. There isn't a written Constitution of the UK, so such things can happen easily.
While the US is certainly better than the UK, criminal politicians here are also trying to undermine certain "inalienable" rights. The social media here is trying to undermine constitutional rights, too. At this point, probably a third of US citizens believe that "hate speech" or whatever tf should be illegal.
It is no coincidence that the US and the UK (France, Germany, the Nordic countries) are facing similar problems. There is a group of people who are trying to undermine Western values.
and it's too naive to think that this only happenened in "these days"
It will always be possible to send end-to-end encrypted messages, no matter how much governments try to ban it. End to End encryption isn't a service, it's a mathematical fact. The people they're trying to "protect" us from, can and will use end-to-end encryption either ways. They want to ban end-to-end encryption for normal users. Why that is, is up to you.
It should be noted that end-to-end encryption is only used by Telegram in one-on-one "secret chats", while a lot of alleged violations happen in group chats (they aren't encrypted) and public channels.
Many Russian "war correspondents", combatants and neo-nazi groups (e.g. Rusich) are very comfortable in Telegram leading their public channels and promoting hatred against Ukrainians, spreading gore and violence footage from the war, setting bounties against Ukrainians and opposition, etc. There was a case of a Belarusian Wikimedian being arrested after one of such pro-Russian network Telegram channels doxxed him.
If moderation level for child pornography and drug dealing, which seems to be the accusation by French authorities, in any way similar to that for hate speech and promotion of violence, the moderation is close to non-existent.
As an anecdotal evidence, there is a "People Nearby" feature in Telegram which also shows local groups around you. I remember checking it out once while living in Berlin and those were some drug dealing groups. I just tried it out again in my new place of residence, and sure as day, at least one of the group is clearly for drug dealing.
[Deleted]
Citation needed + Correlation isn't causation.
I am ratist. But that doesn't matter here. Your OG comment is stupid from the start. You picked example poorly, parsed it as a one-liner, practically showing a facade telling everyone that your mind was only that narrow. Your fault wholly, deal with it.
Maybe learn from the guy you were just replying instead of crying like a kid.
Please enlighten your views on this.
I don't get the relevance.
Pragmatically speaking, however, if my top competitor somehow got caught into these kinds of things, I also couldn't help but to give a huge grin.
You will not get relevance until your top competitor will say that comment too was narrow, one-liner as mine. Why OTT platform owners will be happy with Durov's arrest?
Ah, so your previous one-liner wanted me to explain why that guy wasn't downvoted as badly as yours, not giving my opinion on them.
First explanation based on what you wrote: you don't know how to articulate a proper sentence.
Second: The way you responded to me seemed like you didn't understand what I wrote either.
Third: Bias. Haha, yes, "I hate you because you are gray" sort of things. But to be serious, the bias here is caused by the exhaustion of overly nagging on cheaters (that any overreacting on that topic without justified logics would be pushed down to hell), and what the other wrote was merely an exclamation (which in turns still held its validity — see my previous comment on how I saw it).
I am not sure what justified logic you need because in recent past every other blog was i cathed xyz cheaters on telegram(and, discord), there was a famous blog where the author of the contest itself tried to give a TLE solution to the cheaters in order to catch them, and one author in a problem just wrote (if(t==10) cout << (something)) in order to catch them and there are many such evidences of cheating.
I was about to stop at just a downvote but I guess seeing your idiocy unanswered did sting me a bit.
As expected, you once again failed to read my last comment. What I pointed out here is the obsession with cheaters being overloaded into less relevant things — that was the unjustified logic. Even if Telegram shut down immediately in an instance and bringing down all the channels, what assurances would you have that cheating intents would simply cease to function?
Put your brain back into your skull next time, please, for hell's sake. Nobody is denying cheaters' existences, but constantly nagging doesn't change a bit. Cheater-busters will keep busting and punishing, and cheaters will keep cheating — what, you think your combined effort of spamming nonsense would fuse into a saint to cleanse all bad?
So, you think that a free platform should have the same moderation level for war propaganda as for CP and drug dealers?
Who would you blame if these exact things happened on an open source protocol not controlled by anybody? Because clearly it is possible. The right to a private communication is a mathematical guarantee, no matter how despicable you find them. The only real way to combat this is sting operations and open source intelligence, and governments should accept that this is the reality of the world.
Telegram has also provided similar services to other rebellious groups that you might find more acceptable. Telegram doesn't pick sides. I think that is a really good policy on that end. Private communication is not the enemy.
Also, it should be noted, while group chats aren't encrypted end to end in the traditional sense, the encryption keys and the encrypted data are usually stored in countries in conflict. This is to prevent countries from abusing their power to forcefully read the content of private group chats.
European Union and especially France are currently discussing the possibility of forbidding Signal (which might be the open source solution you had in mind)
Unfortunately, Telegram does take sides. Telegram shut down one of the biggest Iranian opposition channels, multiple Bashkir opposition channels (in both of these cases telegram channels were very important for the coordination of the protests), and, of course, multiple pro-Ukraine channels. Every such action was done under the agenda of “keeping violence off the platform”. However, Telegram did not block official Hamas telegram channel and only hid it from the search. Telegram also didn’t ban many Z channels (including literal neo-nazis like Rusich) that posted videos of torture and gore (im not going to talk about obvious things like constant posts with calls for the genocide of Ukrainian people). Im not advocating for the Durov’s arrest, im just clarifying that his stance on “freedom of speech” is pretty hypocritical, and, surpise-surprise, it is a second priority after keeping his platform on, for example, Russian market (which is completely understandable).
That's unfortunate. I think it's reasonable to remove reported group chats that clearly violate internationally agreed ethics (or co-operate with law enforcement). It's not a privacy concern that someone can share messages they have access to. I understand that it's tricky co-operating with so many governments. This is why open source protocols are important. There should be no official group that decides what messages can be on their servers. For cases just casm and drugs, I think the only real way is sting operations. If the government can't infiltrate such groups, I doubt a normal user would be able to either. It's unfortunate how difficult it is to prevent dictatorial government overreach and the distribution of illegal content at the same time.
I don't understand why there is no pushes to make tor illegal, but making e2e encryption illegal. India has a similar push to ban e2e encryption for whatsapp. It feels as if they want the data of the normal users, and not that of criminals. It is somewhat infeasible to ban tor, similar to e2e. All you can do is make it more effort for the normal users. Often times, protesters and defiants are in the "normal users" group.
The point of my comment is that what's happening is likely more related to the unencrypted part of Telegram, rather than the encrypted part (which, on a side note, appears dubious). And yeah, Telegram actually does pick sides, and hazzlek summarizes it very well.
Perhaps another important point in this conversation is that Durov is making billions of dollars off of Telegram (including the illegal activities that occur on the platform). If he is profiting off of providing a channel for people to commit crimes, at what point is he a bystander vs. an enabler?
I haven't formed a very strong opinion on Durov's case (and it's also certainly being used as a sort of proxy intelligence war between NATO and Russia), but I think it's important to examine Durov's role with a little more scrutiny.
I don't think you actually believe that. Gun manufacturers profited a lot from criminals buying their guns too. Maybe you're anti-gun, in which case we can talk about paid hacking software, which can also be bought by criminals. Is the selling of that a criminal activity because hackers can use it to attack organizations?
You know, terrorists are constantly using modified Toyota Hiluxes. Oh my god, every time you watch a video of jihadists duking it out in vehicles it's with a heavy machine gun mounted on the back of a Toyota. No other vehicle has even come close to this popularity; you can search and see articles written about this phenomenon. Toyota has to know that they're profiting off of terrorism. At what point is Toyota a bystander vs. an enabler?
Strictly speaking, I don't think it has been already a "mathematical" fact, since the conjecture of P=NP hasn't been mathematically proven false (or true) yet. I prefer to call it as a "practical" fact because nobody has succeeded in exploiting those most commonly used cryptography algorithms.
Indeed, trying to ban end-to-end encryption is like trying to ban math itself. The true goal isn't security—it's control.
When governments push for such bans, they're not targeting criminals who will find ways around it; they're targeting everyday users who just want their privacy. Encryption is a fundamental tool in the digital age, and any attempt to weaken it only weakens our freedom.
Now OTT platform owners will be more happy.
Maybe bad news for Telegram solution leaking groups :)
Really? A person is arrested for nothing, freedom of speech is under attack, and you are continuing with your cheaters?
[Deleted]
Are u a moron? The cheating of everything that happens is 0.1% of the problem here, This is a clear show that governments need to have our data, need to control our everything, need to know everything, and They'll go as far as arresting a company CEO, Just bcuz it didn't give them the power they asked for. And ur on rattling about cheaters bullshit.
Do u think if telegram was to be closed anything would change? the cheaters would magically disappear? it'd take less than a month for the same channels, groups, everything to reappear on some other messenger, and that's the fact, if someone wants to cheat, he will, no matter the security and guards, trust me I know this better. If someone wants to do something, they will. Telegram shutting down will reduce it by 90%, for 1 month, then it'll be all normal(if not less than a month). the solution isn't closing every possible communicating platform, since the cheaters will code their own, Me and My friend did it with Django once 3yrs ago, it took us 2 months. It wasn't beautiful, cool looking, fabulous graphics and animation, but it was a messenger, supported channels, groups, searching for them, etc possible, the only things a cheater would need. So yeah, stop rattling on about these cheaters bullshit right now, more serious things than some random CP platform's cheaters are at stake right now.
And Yes, I'm(was) a cheater(think anything u want). this isn't an act of me to get u to stop worrying about cheating so I can cheat. this is one of my real concerns since countries like India, Iran etc use tg for free access to the internet, since it's the easiest to bypass the government's filtering and blocking using tg proxies. And this closing will have an actual huge impact. Way more serious than CF cheaters.
[Deleted]
He is from India only. The ignorance is top notch.
Please, Don't drag my country name.Some people are born stupid!!
Dude just said "Maybe bad news for cheaters". He didn’t say that's the most serious issue to worry about. You are overreacting.
Also, as much I appreciate freedom of speech, considering how ignorant and gullible people are, freedom of speech should be regulated. Even in real life, because you are given freedom doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. If you steal and get punished for, you don’t say that's a violation of my freedom. Freedom of speech, like every other freedom, should be regulated. The real concern should be who are those people regulating it, and what is being regulated
that's why "freedom" is ill-defined and many people don't believe
hmm you are defending cheaters so you are a cheater ban him!!!!!!!!!!!!!
freedurov
These people are pretty selfish and only care about themselves.
You are right. They judge us, but who will judge them...
Maybe I was too narrow/selfish about my demands from this arrest and knowing the fact that durov have tried to save the user's data from any govt. either EU or Russia from both Telegram and VKontakte(his former app) it now seems that the arrest is political because Meta too does have serious criminal activities on its platform but never arrested because they agreed to share user's data but durov didn't. I was excited because I thought now the govt will force durov to control over the criminal activities but the game is much more bigger than that and EU (and maybe Russia too) just wanted the access to all encrypted data. Hoping that durov will be released soon!
copium
no more cheating ? no more codeforces ?
Freedom to DUROV, Freedom to OUR FROG!
freedurov
They arrested him because they can’t access people’s chats (encrypted or not). So why didn’t they arrest Mark Zuckerberg for end-to-end encryption in Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp? Unless they already have access to those chats?
Check this post from Du Rove’s channel: Message about US-based companies.
And this post talks about “private” Signal messages being exploited against them in US courts or media: Another post.
So, I believe Pavel Durov is in prison because "the West" can’t control his application.
It's just a political war. They did it because they could, because they wanted to 'set an example'.
They are also trying to ban Signal and WhatsApp for being end-to-end encrypted. See: chat control 2.
Privacy is a crime. Thanks for playing.
freedurov
[deleted]
Am I having eyesight problems or has the codeforces logo changed to FREEDUROV for a moment?
fire logo tbh
2024 is crazy bro , also the logo kinda slaps
Does this mean codeforces will be closed soon? I guess I should save all my submissions before it happens...
Theoretically possible, but do not fret yourself. Codeforces isn't strictly associated/linked/depended upon Telegram/TON, and the turmoil of the latter doesn't necessarily disrupt the former.
Right now, the more worrying/debating-worthy thing should be around Durov, his application and how to deal with its ideology and authorities' reactions to such.
Now I have to submit my problems on FreeDurov
Free Durov
FreeDurov
Bruh the logo went from Codeforces-->FreeDurov-->Codeforces-->FreeDurov (currently)
freedurov
Free Durov!
Oh no! I need CodeForces to Practice!
Free Durov!
The image you replied to is too large for everyone to see other people's comments.
Thanks
Free Durov
Nice to see Mike cares more about the CEO of telegram than cheating and Goodbye 2023.
[DELETED]
What's wrong with CF??? Codeforces is an academic community, or at least an academic website, why are there so many CP-irrelevant information popping up and even becoming official??
Can some brave person come out and tell me why the fuck this thing is getting downvoted by everyone instead of being a coward with 69 IQ?
Also although I had more than more than 100 downvotes my contribution still did not change. That proves the downvoters are all stupid and cowards. I hope do you know what I mean.
Does your high IQ make you special in fields of modesty?
But no one here is asking you to read it, so why do you have the rights to stop them from discussing it?
wonderful replies
But there are still some who know how to take a decision and what to say and are not influenced by the majority of cowards, although you and some more get downvoted hard but happy to see adamant, hazzlek etc got upvoted which proves not all on codeforces are cowards.
Bold claim. While I can see what you're on with it, throwing "absolute" points into an argument would usually backfire on you. Here, I think it wouldn't cause you any issue, but be careful when doing so elsewhere.
Your OG comment was (definitively/logically) an assumption first and foremost. Added with the negative tone, yes, I can see why there are a lot of downvotes coming your way. Sometimes people downvote simply because what was written annoyed them.
For the content, honestly I have no comments. Hence I didn't downvote.
" For the content, honestly I have no comments. "
Let me clear you for this:
He too showed his concern about cheaters and GoodBye 2023 contest, that's it!
What is there you can't understand?
Everywhere in this blog you were acting like a pretentious, what happened now?
Maybe you will say its your choice to decide whom to reply but wait you returned after 2 days to comment this, when you have nothing to say, you were like read my previous comment , lol.
Now you don't need any citation from Mindeveloped?
I like your fear from the people higher rated than you, you are completely a biased person, this is called a regulated freedom of speech, in which there is no any involvement of a third person, you yourself know what is good and bad.
Why do you think the French govt. dared to arrest Pavel? What if there were no criminal activities on Telegram? Do you think in that case any govt has the power to suppress Durov just because he didn't shared user's data?
No they can't, they were just waited long to collect a solid proof against him so that they can say the world that the arrest is due to him not regulating over criminal activities, now see people are with Durov but they are also saying " oh! yes, govt is true, telegram have criminal activities too on its app ".
Is it Durov's fault? No completely not, seeing his approach to make an encrypted chating app, that he left his own country to live somewhere else i can say he was definitely not behind the money. It is the people who ruined him by using his app for illegal activities.
When you see a illegal channel on Telegram how many of you report? Probably very few i guess, Wasn't it your responsibility too to save Telegram and save Durov that time only?
May be i have spoken too much as a newbie, sorry for that, maybe this is my last reply on this blog, praying for Durov and you all too!
None. I simply neither agree nor deny their viewpoint. There are parts I relate to, but there are also parts that don't sit well for me so I won't show my agreement.
I think I have already told you from the start that I were ratist.
"Bold claim." is almost equivalent to that "Citation needed" on you. Just that, yes, I hate you, so I enjoy throwing harsher words onto you.
"Bold claim."
For the rest of your babbling, no comments, and don't fucking patronize me. I have no obligation to be a responsible girl to authority, let alone a service platform that I could choose to use or not use. And no, I haven't seen any drug-dealing or trafficking stuff on Telegram myself to do the report. I think those who did would already do the favor (if they felt like), and you can't blame me for having too good of a luck to never see enough baddies to be bothered.
Caring a international boss as a nobody is truly not important as caring goodbye2023(
Does this mean the end of the old "CodeForces"
www.freedurov.com
All Eye On Free durov
privacy is now nothing.
I think there won't be any privacy unless all conflicts and wars stop. Even so, I believe human still have a long way to achieve complete privacy, human rights are now nothing.
Is this real?
enjoy the last few moments
So when will change the logo back to codeforces?
I mean no offense, will this lead to a big crisis to CodeFroces?
yeah, may be, I think there won't be any contest for months
Can we have contests on Codeforces in the future?
Yes there is...
Oh God.I just started CF like a week ago. I dont want it to shut down anytime soon ... #FreeDurov
I was so confused when I saw the home page image, but...
#FreeDurov
Dear Codeforces , it might be a hard time but don't worry I won't let you die ,atleast not before I die, even if it costs my kidneys.you are my first love and I'll always be there for you.
Facebook has been allowing hatred speech and all such stuff since the beginning of time. Why is Zuckerberg still roaming free
3 more days, if French govt wont free Durov, I'll take things to my control
Please bro please ,wait for atleast a month ,the French's are not aware of your power. I am worried of what would happen if they cross the timeline. I hope they reconcile before the timeline.
Viva Telegram!
Viva Codeforces!
Viva freedom of speech!
Viva won of people!
Latest: Durov has been indicted in France.
[DELETED]
What are you talking about? We are here to support Pavel Durov, not to complain about Codeforces.
nice to see nato was arguing with his fan.
It seems that 4TZ has grasped the crux of the matter.
what on earth are you 4 talking about???
[DELETED]
Will the competition continue？
No.
How's arresting him bad exactly, considering he doesn't give a shit about the sort of illicit content he has on his platform while clearly having a pro-Russian bias that's well documented? Telegram should die without any second thought. As for what CF will do regarding sponsors... uh... find better ones? Maybe not associate with criminals and scam networks? That will be awesome.
Someone who escaped Russia in 2014, has lived in Dubai since and holds UAE and French citizenships (though in addition to Russian and other) has a pro-Russian bias? I wonder why he hasn't lived in Russia instead. Such a mystery, surely no way to explain it. Lmao.
From _____ to the ___, Durov will be ____.
From Russia to the France, Durov will be arrseted.
LOL!!!
Don't worry, he's been freed... on bail. Everything will be fine as long as he lets western governments spy on everyone on Telegram as much as they want!
ROFL
As expected