But what Durov revealed next pulled the lens even wider. What happened in France, he said, is part of a larger pattern: governments exploiting legal systems to weaken privacy protections—and it’s even more extreme in the United States. “You know what’s interesting, in the U.S., you have a process that allows the government to actually force any engineer in any tech company to implement a back door and not tell anyone about it.” “Using this process called the gag-order, you know there are certain legal procedures.” Carlson was stunned. “Not tell his own employer about it?” “Yes, exactly. If you tell your own boss, you can end up in jail. Like, gag order.” “Actually?!” “Yeah.” Carlson pressed further. “So your employees have a legal obligation to act as fifth column spies? Saboteurs against you, your employees?” Durov didn’t hesitate. “That’s one of the reasons I didn’t move to the U.S. with my team.” To Durov, it’s not just a legal battle—it’s a warning. What happened to him could happen to anyone building technology that puts privacy over power. France may have kicked it off, but the real fight, he said, is global.