6-9-2024 (PARIS) In a bold response to his recent arrest in France, Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive of Telegram, has publicly criticised the French authorities for what he deems a misguided approach to platform regulation. Durov, who was arrested and charged last month over the publication of extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app, broke his silence on Thursday with a lengthy post on Telegram itself.
The 39-year-old tech mogul expressed surprise at being held personally responsible for content posted by third parties on the platform. “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 stated, challenging the legal basis of his arrest.
Durov vehemently refuted claims that Telegram is an “anarchic paradise”, asserting that the platform actively removes “millions of harmful posts and channels every day”. He also countered accusations of unresponsiveness to French authorities, claiming personal involvement in establishing a hotline with Telegram to address terrorism threats in France.
However, the Telegram chief did acknowledge the challenges posed by the platform’s rapid growth, which has now reached a staggering 950 million users worldwide. “That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard,” Durov conceded, hinting at forthcoming internal improvements to enhance platform safety.
The arrest of Durov on 24 August at Le Bourget airport near Paris has sparked a debate in tech circles about the responsibilities of platform leaders. Elon Musk, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has shown support for Durov, using the hashtag #FreePavel in his posts.
Durov’s legal situation remains precarious. He was granted conditional release on a €5 million bail and must report to a French police station twice weekly while remaining in the country. The charges against him include multiple counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram.
