Pavel Durov, the Russian billionaire and founder of Telegram, has spoken publicly for the first time since his arrest in France last month. Durov, who was arrested on charges related to poor content moderation on Telegram, defended his platform and criticized French authorities for how they handled the situation.
Telegram is a popular messaging app with over 950 million global users, and Durov’s arrest has raised questions about the responsibility tech founders have over their users’ actions.
Durov, who holds both Russian and French citizenship, was arrested on August 24, 2024, upon his arrival in France.
He was there to attend a dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
However, Durov was detained at the airport and later charged with 12 criminal offenses, including allegations of allowing Telegram to be used for terrorism and drug trafficking activities.
French authorities accuse him of failing to moderate illegal content effectively on the platform.
Following his arrest, Durov was placed under judicial supervision, which includes restrictions such as a court-mandated travel ban from leaving French territory and regular police check-ins twice a week.
Despite the serious charges, Durov has maintained his innocence, stating that the legal approach taken against him is unfair.
In a message posted on his Telegram channel, Durov addressed the charges and the events leading up to his arrest.
He criticized the French authorities for their handling of the situation, saying that they could have taken other steps before arresting him.
“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,” Durov explained.
He also highlighted that Telegram has an official representative in the European Union responsible for ensuring the platform’s compliance with EU regulations.
Durov pointed out that the representative’s contact details are publicly available, and French authorities could have reached out for assistance through this channel.
“Telegram has an official representative in the EU that accepts and replies to EU requests.
“Its email address has been publicly available for anyone in the EU who googles ‘Telegram EU address for law enforcement,’” Durov stated.
In his response, Durov seemed puzzled that French authorities chose to pursue legal action against him personally, rather than following the standard procedure of filing charges against the company itself.
Durov strongly criticized the trend of holding tech founders personally accountable for the actions of their users.
According to him, this approach is not only outdated but also dangerous for innovation.
He argued that punishing innovators for the misuse of their creations would discourage the development of new technologies.
“If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start legal action against the service itself.
“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 said in his statement.
He expressed concerns about how difficult it is to find a balance between ensuring privacy and maintaining security on the platform.
Telegram has long been known for its emphasis on user privacy, but it has also been criticized for being used by criminals to coordinate illegal activities.
“Establishing the right balance between privacy and security is not easy. You have to reconcile privacy laws with law enforcement requirements, and local laws with EU laws. You have to take into account technological limitations,” Durov added.
