- Telegram founder criticises the behavior of the French authorities
- Durov blames the problems on the rapidly growing number of users of the app
- Telegram founder arrested in France
Telegram founder criticises the behavior of the French authorities
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov on Thursday condemned France for arresting him last month and charging him with extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app.
In a lengthy post on his Telegram channel, his first comment since his arrest, Durov said it was "astonishing" that he was being held responsible for other people's content.
"To use laws that predate the smartphone era and blame the CEO for crimes committed by third parties on a platform under his control is a wrong approach," he said.
P. Durov criticized as "completely untrue" claims that Telegram is like an "anarchic paradise" and asserted, "We delete millions of malicious messages and feeds daily."
He denied French accusations that Paris had not received Telegram's replies to its requests and said he had personally helped the French authorities "to set up a hotline with Telegram in order to combat the terrorist threat in France".
Durov blames the problems on the rapidly growing number of users of the app
At the end of his report, Durov softened his tone and said that the rapid increase in the number of Telegram users, which he said now stands at 950 million worldwide, "has caused growing pains and made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform".
"That's why I have set myself the goal of guaranteeing that we will make significant improvements in this respect," he said.
"I hope that after the events of August, Telegram, and the social networking industry in general, will become safer and stronger," Durov added.
He also said that if Telegram cannot agree with local regulators on "the right balance between privacy and security", "we are ready to leave that country".
Telegram founder arrested in France
As a reminder, after four days of arrest in France, Durov, 39, has been charged with several counts of failing to restrict extremist and illegal content on his Telegram channel.
He received support from fellow tech tycoon and CEO of social network X, Elon Musk, who posted comments under the hashtag #FreePavel.
P. Durov was arrested on 24 August. After arriving by private jet and being questioned by investigators, he was arrested at Bourges airport near Paris. He was later released on bail of €5 million on condition that he would report to a police station twice a week and remain in France.
P. Durov is an enigmatic, rarely public personality and a citizen of Russia, France, and the United Arab Emirates, where the Telegram channel is based.
Forbes magazine estimates his wealth at USD 15.5 billion, but he proudly espouses the virtues of an ascetic life, bathes in cold water, and does not drink alcohol or coffee.
Based on ELTA reports
