Paris: Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov made his first remarks on early Friday since his detention in France last month over allegations that his platform was being used for illegal activities including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images. Durov said French authorities should have approached his company with their complaints rather than detaining him.
Writing on his Telegram channel in his first public comments since his detention, Durov denied claims that the platform was an "anarchic paradise" while acknowledging that Telegram's abrupt increase in user count made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform. He also assured of significantly improving efforts to take down nefarious activities propagated through the platform.
"Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. 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. This was surprising for several reasons: Telegram has an official representative in the EU that accepts and replies to EU requests," he said.
'Using laws from pre-smartphone era is...'
Durov, in his remarks, said the French authorities had numerous ways to reach him to request assistance as he was a French citizen who frequented the French consulate in Dubai. He also recalled when he personally helped them establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France.
"If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a 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," he said, while asserting that no innovator can build new tools if they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse.
"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. As a platform, you want your processes to be consistent globally, while also ensuring they are not abused in countries with weak rule of law," he added. Durov also elaborated on differences between the platform and a country's regulator that caused him to leave countries like Russia and Iran.
"We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated. All of that does not mean Telegram is perfect. Even the fact that authorities could be confused by where to send requests is something that we should improve. But the claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue," Durov further remarked.
What are the charges against Pavel Durov?
In late August, French authorities handed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov preliminary charges of allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app and barred him from leaving France pending further investigation. was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a sweeping judicial inquiry opened last month, and released after four days of questioning.
Allegations against the Russia-born Durov, who is a French citizen, include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking and that Telegram refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law. Durov's arrest in France has caused outrage in Russia, with some government officials calling it politically motivated and proof of the West's double standard on freedom of speech.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that Durov's arrest wasn't a political move but part of an independent investigation. In a statement posted on its platform after Durov's arrest, Telegram said it abides by EU laws, and its moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving”.
(with agency input)
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