In a statement posted on Telegram, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov claimed his arrest was misguided. 12 days after the incident, Durov may be ready to amend the messaging platform’s moderation and censorship policies.
Telegram founder and CEO issues statement claiming his arrest was misguided
About two weeks ago, Pavel Durov landed in France for a brief pit stop. However, he was detained at the airport. He is now in the custody of the French police. Durov is out on a €5m bail and must report to a police station twice a week. France has asked Durov not to leave the country until the matter is in court.
French authorities have charged Durov with, “enabling various forms of criminal activity on Telegram”. He is also allegedly held liable for an unnamed person distributing child sexual abuse material on the platform.
After twelve days of maintaining his silence to the world, Telegram’s founder has reportedly released a statement on the platform. In his first public comment since his detention, Durov has rubbished any claims about his platform becoming a lawless paradise for criminals and anti-state agencies.
❤️ Thanks everyone for your support and love!
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.…
— Pavel Durov (@durov) September 6, 2024
Durov expressed his surprise and concern about the situation. He reportedly claimed Telegram’s HQ has a “hotline” for the French authorities. This would have helped establish a “direct communication” line with Telegram’s EU representative at any time, he lamented.
“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.”
Will Telegram strictly enforce moderation and censorship?
Durov admitted Telegram was not perfect. However, he stressed that the platform hasn’t turned into an “anarchic paradise’.
The charges leveled against Telegram, and by extension, on Durov, are quite serious. French authorities claim Durov is complicit in the spread of explicit material involving children. However, following his detention, Telegram’s founder may have chosen to take a tougher stand against objectionable content on the platform.
The first statement of Pavel Durov founder and CEO of Telegram after his arrest in France 🇫🇷 @durov#EU
“I'm still trying to understand what happened in France. But we hear the concerns. I made it my personal goal to prevent abusers of Telegram's platform from interfering with… pic.twitter.com/JwJpGzOniv
— Marios Karatzias (@MariosKaratzias) September 6, 2024
According to The Verge, Telegram has updated its FAQ about moderating private chats. Moving forward, Telegram won’t shield private chats from moderation, reads the revised FAQ.
Durov has already claimed that Telegram, “takes down millions of harmful posts and channels every day.” Perhaps, Telegram will now enforce moderation and censorship policies on private chats strictly.