Telegram chief Durov denounces his arrest in France as 'misguided'

RFI

6 September 2024 at 3:05 am·1-min read

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has lashed out at French authorities, judging his recent arrest over an alleged lack of moderation on the messaging app as "misguided" and "surprising".

In his first public comments since he was detained last month, Durov denied claims that the app is "some sort of anarchic paradise" as "absolutely untrue".

In his statement, published on the Telegram app late Thursday, Durov said that French authorities should have approached his company with their complaints rather than detaining him.

Durov, a French citizen, was arrested on 25 August at an airport north of Paris. He's been formally charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app - including drug trafficking, fraud and the spread of child pornography.

Telegram boss Durov charged, banned from leaving France

'Surprising' arrest

The Russian-born billionaire said the investigation into the app was surprising since French authorities had access to a "hot line" that he had helped set up and they could have contacted Telegram's EU representative at any time.

"If a country is unhappy with an Internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself," he wrote.

While he admitted Telegram was not perfect, he denied any abuse associated with the app.

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'Surprising' arrest

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