Pavel Durov has made his first comments after his arrest

He is confident that he should not hold the CEO responsible for third-party offenses on his platform

06.09.2024 - 08:05

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3 min

What’s new? Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has spoken publicly for the first time about his recent arrest in France. He admitted that the platform’s rapid growth to 950 million users had led to the possibility that it could be used for criminal purposes. Durov criticized the strategy behind his arrest, saying that the CEO should not be held responsible for third-party wrongdoing on his platform. He added:

“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.”

Source: X.com

Durov also said that Telegram is actively cooperating with EU requirements and deleting millions of “harmful” posts every day.

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What events preceded it? French authorities arrested Durov on August 24 at Le Bourget airport near Paris. His arrest was the result of an investigation into Telegram’s role in criminal activities including trafficking in illegal substances, creating fraudulent schemes, and preparing terrorist attacks. Authorities attributed the problems to a lack of sufficient content moderation on the platform.

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He was eventually charged with helping to run an online platform that facilitated the illegal activities of organized groups. The action is part of a broader investigation into how technology platforms handle illegal content, raising international concerns about internet regulation and free speech.

Durov’s case has sparked debate about free speech, privacy, and the responsibility of tech company executives to manage platform content. The Telegram chief is currently out on 5 million EUR bail and will not be able to leave France until at least March 2025, as he must regularly check in with the police during that time.

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