CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov is formally under investigation in France and is not allowed to leave the nation.
French law enforcement accuses Telegram Founder Pavel Durov of numerous serious offenses and indicts him for not putting an end to extremist content.
On Wednesday, August 28, 2024, French authorities charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with preliminary offenses. He allegedly permitted criminal activities on his messaging app. Authorities prevented him from leaving France until they conducted an investigation.
Authorities arrested Mr. Durov over the weekend. Proponents of free speech and autocratic countries have voiced their support for him. The case has drawn attention to Durov’s odd biography. It has also highlighted various passports he holds. Additionally, the public has brought to light the difficulties in monitoring illicit behavior on the internet.. Durov was born in Russia.
Investigators launched a comprehensive investigation earlier this year. On Saturday, authorities held Mr. Durov at Le Bourget Airport south of Paris. They questioned him for four days before releasing him earlier on Wednesday. The Paris prosecutor’s office announced that investigating judges had filed preliminary charges against someone on Wednesday night. The individual had to post a 5 million euro bond and check in at a police station twice a week.
Pavel Durov is a French national as well
Mr. Durov is a French national. Authorities accuse him of allowing drug trafficking on his platform. Additionally, authorities accuse him of allowing the distribution of child sex abuse materials. And, he has refused to provide Telegram with required information or documentation for legal reasons.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the first preliminary complaint against him was for managing an online platform that allowed illicit transactions by an organized group. This crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of €50,000.
According to French law, magistrates who file preliminary accusations have good reason to suspect a crime. They can choose to grant further time for an investigation.
“It’s totally absurd to think that the person in charge of a social network could be implicated in criminal acts that don’t concern him, directly or indirectly,” Durov’s attorney David-Olivier Kaminski was cited as saying by French media.
According to the prosecutors, they only implicated Mr. Durov in this case at this stage. They declined to comment on further potential arrest warrants. They did not rule out the possibility that other people are the subject of investigations. Prosecutors told the AP the following statement: We will keep any arrest warrant private until we take the intended person into custody. After informing them of their legal rights, we will make the warrant public.
According to the prosecutor’s office, French authorities launched a preliminary investigation in February. The reason for the investigation was the nearly total absence of a response by Telegram to judicial requests for information. Specifically, authorities aimed the requests at pursuing offenders, including those charged with crimes against children.
Russia is furious about Mr. Durov’s imprisonment in France.
Russia expresses dismay over France’s detention of Mr. Durov. Some government officials have described it as politically motivated. They also see it as evidence of the West’s double standard regarding free speech. The Russian government attempted to prohibit the telegram app in 2018 but was unsuccessful; critics of the Kremlin have noted the uproar, and they lifted the ban in 2020.
After years of protesting against the Shiite theocracy in Iran, the government officially banned Telegram, but people in Iran still widely use it. Mr. Durov’s arrest in France provoked remarks from the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In response, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his admiration for France’s strict stance. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei subduedly acknowledged France’s stance against individuals who violate its governance of the internet.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that Mr. Durov’s apprehension was a product of an impartial inquiry rather than a political maneuver. In a post on x, Macron stated that his nation deeply commits to preserving freedom of expression, while upholding freedoms within a legal framework in both social media and real life to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.
After detaining Mr. Durov, Telegram stated on the platform that it follows EU legislation and continuously improves its moderation, which adheres to industry standards.
Almost a billion people use Telegram as a communication tool and a source of important information worldwide. It stated, “We hope that this will be resolved quickly.”
Pavel Durov also holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates
Mr. Durov holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates, the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis, and Russia.
Tuesday saw the UAE Foreign Ministry stating that it was “closely following the case” and that Mr. Durov should “have all necessary consular services in an urgent manner” from France.
As a Russian citizen, Durov “has all the necessary opportunities for his legal defense,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who also stated that Moscow is “ready to provide all necessary assistance and support” to the CEO of Telegram.
However, Mr. Peskov added, “The fact that he is also a French citizen complicates the situation.”
Mr. Durov, under pressure from Russian authorities, founded Telegram with his brother.
He started the well-known Russian social networking site VKontakte in 2006, and he sold his interest in it in 2013.
During the Russian government’s crackdown that followed the large-scale pro-democracy rallies that shook Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012, the corporation was under pressure.
According to Durov, authorities forced the website to remove online groups of Russian opposition activists and then provide personal information of users who participated in the 2013–2014 Ukrainian rebellion that resulted in the removal of a pro-Kremlin president.
In a recent interview, Durov said that he had declined their requests and departed the nation.
Telegram’s pro-privacy position and ease of use for communication among Russians made it an attractive option for them to share news and converse, even as the demonstrations forced Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital domain.
Telegram is widely used in Ukraine
In Ukraine, Telegram remains a widely used news platform for both government and media users, serving as a means of disseminating information about the conflict and alerting users to missile and air raid threats.
Telegram has been under fire from Western governments for its lax content control policies.
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