Telegram CEO Pavel Durov
Photo : Twitter
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO, addressed his arrest in France via a statement posted on Telegram.
- He was detained over allegations of enabling illegal activities on Telegram and not cooperating with investigations.
- Released on €5 million bail, he faces restrictions on leaving France and must report to police twice a week.
Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov responded to his arrest in France last month via a detailed statement posted on Telegram Thursday. Durov, a French citizen, was detained in France over accusations of facilitating illegal activities on Telegram. French prosecutors allege that Durov allowed drug trafficking and the distribution of child pornography on Telegram, in addition to refusing to cooperate with ongoing investigations.
After spending four days in custody, Durov was released on €5 million bail on August 29. The conditions of his release included restrictions on leaving France and reporting the police twice a week.
In his statement on the allegations, Durov expressed surprise at being held personally responsible for the actions of third parties using his platform. “I was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram,” he said.
Durov explained that Telegram has a designated representative in the EU who handles all law enforcement inquiries. “The French authorities had numerous ways to reach me to request assistance,” he argued, highlighting past cooperation with French authorities. He also criticized the legal approach that led to his arrest, stating, “Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties is a misguided approach.”
However, Durov also acknowledged that maintaining balance between privacy and security is challenging.
“You have to reconcile privacy laws with law enforcement requirements,” he said, insisting Telegram is proactive in removing harmful content and maintaining transparency.
He highlighted the company’s willingness to leave markets that clash with its values. “When Russia demanded we hand over ‘encryption keys,’ we refused — and Telegram got banned in Russia,” he explained. He said Telegram is taking steps to address these issues and improve its platform. However, he acknowledged that “Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M” created problems for the company.
“I hope the events of August will result in making Telegram — and the social networking industry as a whole — safer and stronger,” he added.
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