Pavel Durov, the CEO of popular messaging app Telegram, has publicly addressed his recent arrest in Paris, calling the French authorities’ approach “misguided” and expressing surprise at being held personally responsible for illegal activities on his platform.
Novaya Gazeta Europe reports that in his first public statement since being detained on August 24, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has hit out at the French authorities’ “misguided approach” in arresting him on charges related to the management of the popular messaging app. Durov was indicted on 12 offenses, including administering a platform that permits illicit financial transactions, failure to provide information to authorities, complicity in the distribution of child pornography, drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering.
Writing on his personal Telegram channel, Durov expressed his surprise at learning he could be held responsible for the illegal activities of others on the platform. He argued that the established practice when a country is unhappy with an internet service is to initiate legal action against the service itself, not the CEO. “Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” Durov stated.
The Telegram CEO warned that holding innovators personally responsible for potential abuse of their tools would discourage the development of new technologies. He emphasized that while Telegram had experienced “growing pains” due to a rapid increase in users, now totaling 950 million, the app was not an “anarchic paradise.” Durov highlighted the efforts of Telegram moderators, who take down “millions” of harmful posts and channels every day.
Durov also pointed out that French authorities had numerous ways to reach him to address concerns about the app and that Telegram had an official EU representative to handle law enforcement requests. Despite this, he pledged to make it his “personal goal” to prevent illegal activity on the platform.
Following his arrest at Paris’ Le Bourget Airport in late August, Durov was charged and later freed after posting a €5-million bail bond. He is currently prohibited from leaving France as the case progresses.
Read more at Novaya Gazeta here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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