There's an intriguing moral paradox in Pavel's arrest, and it is, to me, all about ownership.

Car manufacturers aren't arrested because criminals use their car. However, Pavel was arrested because criminals used his app.

I see a lot of people, including me, feeling bitter about this arrest and worried about what it means for their personal privacy and freedom.

Yet, it's widely considered immoral to remain passive when one has the direct ability to prevent immoral actions, especially serious offenses like child exploitation.

If Telegram's technology had been decentralized to the point where Pavel clearly couldn't influence what was happening on the platform, it's unlikely anyone would attempt to arrest him or accuse him of anything.

Why? ... 1/2

politics

I feel like it's the right time to open up this debate. Could live in the /philosophy channel too, but feels timely here with Durov's arrest:

Does free speech exist only if there's zero limit to it?

I tend to say no, just as regular freedom is not about being able to kill anyone when you want. Words, when they're pronounced especially by individuals with influence, can have very concrete consequences in the real word. People saying these words should be ready to be held accountable for the consequences of their words, including being ready to go to prison.

In the case of Durov, I would say that his mistake was to not build Telegram as a decentralized entity from the get go. If there's no one that can monitor the content of an app, then the authorities can only go after each individuals, but if there's a central entity allowing illegal activities and turning a blind eye, to me, it's only normal they have to be held accountable as well.

Very accurate take. Basically said the same thing in the /politics channel.
One consequence of this position though is that as a community in decentralized spaces, we also should come up with some kind of guidelines we enfore as a decentralized community.

Co-founder & CEO at @morpho labs. Making financial infrastructure a public good.

Very accurate take. Basically said the same thing in the /politics channel.
One consequence of this position though is that as a community in decentralized spaces, we also should come up with some kind of guidelines we enfore as a decentralized community.

https://warpcast.com/alixkun/0xf37afef1