- Telegram CEO Pavel Durov faces formal investigation in France
- Charges include facilitating illegal transactions, child porn distribution
- Durov under judicial supervision, barred from leaving France
According to Paris prosecutors, Pavel Durov, the CEO and founder of Telegram, has been placed under formal investigation in France as part of an inquiry into organized crime on the messaging service.
Mr Durov, 39, has been placed under judicial supervision rather than remanded in detention and must pay a €5 million (£4.2 million; $5.6 million) deposit.
The Russian-born billionaire, also a French national, must appear at a French police station twice a week and is prohibited from leaving French territory.
Mr Durov was initially seized upon arriving at Le Bourget airport north of Paris last Saturday on a warrant for app-related crimes.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Paris prosecutors stated that Mr. Durov was placed under formal investigation for alleged violations such as:
- Complicity in the management of an online platform to facilitate illegal transactions by an organized group
- Refuse to communicate with authorities
- Complicity in coordinated criminal distribution of pornographic photos of children.
In France, being placed under official investigation does not imply guilt or necessarily result in a trial; rather, it signifies that judges believe there is enough evidence to proceed with an investigation.
Mr Durov has made no public comments about the current events.
His lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, stated that Telegram met with all European digital legislation and was moderated to the same standards as other social networks.
He said it was “absurd” to assume that his client may be involved in “criminal acts that do not concern him either directly or indirectly. “
It is uncommon for a social media network owner to be jailed because of how the platform is used, and it has sparked a heated online debate about free speech and accountability.
We’ve already seen tech executives dragged in front of Congress for aggressive grillings about their tactics and failures, but not by law enforcement at airports.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, has backed Mr. Durov, claiming that moderation is a “propaganda word” for censorship. He has appealed for Mr. Durov’s release.
Chris Pavlovski, the founder of the infamous video-sharing software Rumble, stated that he had departed Europe following Mr Durov’s arrest.
While most of the world’s top social networks collaborate with national and international authorities to address significant criminal acts, such as the distribution of child sexual abuse photos, Telegram has been accused of ignoring them.
Now located in Dubai, the company claims its moderating tools satisfy industry standards.
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that France was deeply dedicated to free expression and that the decision to detain Mr Durov was “in no way… political”.
Telegram allows large groups of up to 200,000 people to share and comment on information and content, whereas WhatsApp’s maximum group size is over 1,000.
While Telegram messages can be encrypted so only the sender and receiver can see them, this feature is not enabled by default and must be turned on manually in private chats.
On Monday evening, Paris prosecutors said Mr Durov was being remanded in custody as part of a cybercrime investigation. Telegram responded that Mr. Durov had “nothing to hide.”
Russia has warned France against turning the case into a “political persecution,” having previously stated that without significant evidence, the charges may be interpreted as an act of “intimidation.
“We know that the president of France has denied any connection [to the case] with politics,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Reuters on Thursday.
“But on the other hand, certain accusations are being made.”
According to Russian legislator Leonid Slutsky, the claims against Mr. Durov were “wild,” and the Telegram CEO was a “hostage of the dictatorship of democracy of the collective West.
Telegram is regarded as one of the leading social media networks.
It was established in 2013 and is especially popular in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet Union countries, as well as Iran.
Russian military correspondent Sasha Kots questioned if users would ever “trust Telegram as before.
“Join the Webull revolution in the UK and receive your free shares today.”
Kots, who routinely updates his big Telegram following the situation in Ukraine, speculated that French and Western officials may now have access to the network’s encryption keys.
“The truth is that no matter how events around Durov develop now, one can never be sure of the messenger’s security,” the Telegram user stated.
Telegram, which has more than 950 million registered users, has consistently refused to participate in international programs geared at detecting and eliminating child abuse content online.
Mr. Durov, who also founded the prominent Russian social media website VKontakte, departed Russia in 2014 after refusing to cooperate with government efforts to close down opposition communities on the platform.
He also holds passports from Saint Kitts, Nevis, and the United Arab Emirates.
