Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has criticized the French authorities for his arrest last year on accusations that the company’s insufficient content moderation led to serious criminal activity. A year later, Durov has called the charges leveled by French authorities “legally and logically absurd.”
“One year ago, the French police detained me for 4 days because some people I’d never heard of used Telegram to coordinate crimes. Arresting a CEO of a major platform over the actions of its users was not only unprecedented — it was legally and logically absurd,” Durov wrote in a post on X.
Durov also noted that the criminal investigation against him is ‘struggling’ to find anything he or Telegram did wrong. He also noted that the arrest in August last year was due to the French police’s own mistake.
“Ironically, I was arrested due to the French police’s own mistake: before August 2024, they ignored French and EU laws and hadn’t sent any of their queries to Telegram via the required legal process. They could have learned the correct procedure simply by googling it or asking,” Durov added.
Durov also noted that he has to return to France every 14 days and has no appeal date in sight so far. The Telegram CEO noted that his arrest has only led to damage to France’s image as a free country.
“So far, the only outcome of my arrest has been massive damage to France’s image as a free country. One thing is certain: we’ll keep fighting — and we will win,” Durov noted.
Durov also noted that Telegram’s “moderation practices align with industry standards.”
Durov on giving backdoor access to French authorities:
When asked if he or Telegram gave French authorities backdoor access to the platform, Durov reacted sharply stating, “I’d rather die — no third party has access to private messages on Telegram.”
Ever since Durov’s arrest, there had been reports that Telegram increased its cooperation with French authorities by sharing more user data in response to requests. Prior to the arrest, Telegram only had a policy of sharing user data with law enforcement agencies in case of terrorism.
