Telegram founder Pavel Durov hit with criminal charges in France after refusing to help authorities wiretap users
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was charged Weꩵdne𒉰sday with being complicit in the spread of crime on the popular messaging app, including child sex abuse, drug trafficking, and fraud, officials said.
Durovꦬ, who was arrested on Saturday in Paris, was released on a $5.6 million bail and ordered to stay in France as officials continue to investigate the allegations against Telegram, .
Among the ch🔯arges was an allegation that he refused to help French authorities wiretap users of the site who were suspected of crimes, Paris prosecutors said.
As part of his bail condition, Durov, a Russian-born dual-French citizen, may not leave France and must꧋ check in at a police station twice a week.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau accused Durov, 39, of showing a “near-total absence”𝐆 of replies to legal demands from officials looking for Telegram to help crack down on crime tied to its service🐽s.
Beccuꦿau said other nationsꦿ “have shared the same observation.”
“That’s what led JUNALCO to open an investigation into the possible criminal responsibility of the messaging app’s executives in the c💟ommission of these offenses,” Beccuau said, noting that her office was specifically targeting organized crime.
Represen💯tatives for Durov could not be immediately reached for commen𝕴t.
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With more than 900 million users ar🌄ound the globe, Telegram has been accused of al𒆙lowing criminals and terror groups to use their services with little to no oversight.
It’s also the primary social media service in Russia, w🐽here even the military uses the app☂ to coordinate attacks as it invades Ukraine.
Durov’s arrest has also raised free speech conce෴rns, with X CEO Elon Musk joining the calls to li🅺berate the person many view as his Russian counterpart.
Telegram has criticized Durov’s arrest, claiming that the company does abide by European Union laws and that its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly📖 improving.”
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels f𒐪requently in Europe,” the company said in a statement.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, are responsible for abuse🍒 of that platform.”
French President Emmanuel Macron maintains that the decision to bring charges against Durov was “in no way political.”