The case describes the events leading up to the arrest at a French airport, in August 2024, of Pavel Durov, owner and CEO of Telegram, a social media platform. Using published sources, including interviews with Durov, it tells the story of Telegram and its enigmatic founder, setting them in the context of the wider tech industry, past and present. The case sets out the charges against Durov, which included complicity in child pornography, drug trafficking and money laundering, and provides a summary of his own defence. The scene is thus set for a wide-ranging discussion of social media ethics, issues of privacy and safety on online platforms, freedom of speech, as well as responsible leadership and the role of the law in policing corporate behaviour.
•Understanding what informs a business leader’s ethical judgements
•How to identify and mitigate the ethical risks of digital technologies, including social media, and the implications for online safety, privacy, and freedom of speech
•How to determine the right thing to do as a business leader
•Understanding the role of law and governments in policing business ethics
•Understanding how the law and ethical principles can be applied in fast-changing environments such as the tech sector.
- Business ethics
- business freedom
- social media
- messaging apps
- tech industry
- ethical leadership
- responsible leadership
- the law
- free speech
- encryption
- privacy
- online safety
- SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production
- Q22025
