- Durov’s detention raises concerns over CEO liability for user actions on encrypted platforms.
- Telegram’s lack of moderation linked to criminal activity prompts Durov’s arrest in France.
- French President Macron denies political motive in detaining Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov.
For the first time since his arrest, Pavel Durov, the CEO of the well-known social media and messaging service Telegram, speaks out. On August 24, French officials detained him at Le Bourget Airport, which is close to Paris.
Durov stated in a message on Telegram on Thursday that he found it “surprising” that he would be held personally accountable for any criminal actions taken by third parties on his social media/messaging platform.
Why did the police take Durov into custody?
The authorities warned him that if someone else used Telegram illegally, they may hold him accountable. He was detained, according to French officials, because Telegram failed to comply with their requests for information.
Due to Telegram’s lack of moderation, 39-year-old Durov was arrested on a warrant on Saturday at Paris’s Bourget Airport. He was under investigation for a number of offenses, including claims that his platform assisted drug dealers, scammers, and those who disseminated child pornography.
Extremists on the far right and terrorist organizations have also been using Telegram, which has drawn criticism for its lack of content monitoring. He was detained for up to ninety-six hours, which is the longest period of time permitted by French law before a person is accused.
Durov’s detention sparked a debate over free speech that was especially problematic in Russia and Ukraine, where it is highly accepted and has grown to be a vital means of communication for both civilians and military personnel in Moscow’s conflict with its neighbor.
Durov’s Reaction to the Charges
In his Telegram message, Durov said he was surprised by the detention and the allegations. He claimed that there are other methods for the French government to get in touch with him without holding him. Even in the EU, Telegram has an official representative who responds to any demands from law authorities.
Anyone has public access to his email. He also said that he visited the French embassy in Dubai on a regular basis. He once directly assisted the French police in handling terrorist threats in France by establishing a hotline with Telegram.
“If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself,” he wrote.
“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.”
“In no way political.”
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron made the unusual move of saying that the choice to accuse Durov was “in no way political,” interfering with the legal process.
In 2013, Durov and his brother Nikolai founded Telegram. As to Durov’s article from last month, the app has over 950 million users, which makes it one of the most popular messaging systems globally.
Since the app’s conversations are encrypted, neither Telegram nor law enforcement organizations can fully monitor what users post.
Born in 1984 in the Soviet Union, Durov earned the nickname “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia” in his twenties. He departed the nation in 2014 and is currently a French citizen living in Dubai, the home of Telegram.
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