Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov lashed out at French authorities, saying his arrest final week over accusations of a scarcity of moderation on the messaging app was “deceptive.”
In his first public assertion since his detention, he rejected claims that Telegram was “some type of anarchist paradise”, calling it “completely unfaithful.”
Mr. Durov was arrested at an airport north of Paris on August 25 and has since been charged with conspiracy to permit unlawful commerce, drug trafficking, fraud and the dissemination of kid sexual abuse pictures on his web site.
In an announcement posted on Telegram, Durov mentioned that holding him chargeable for crimes dedicated by third events on the platform was each “shocking” and “deceptive.”
“If a rustic is sad with an web service, the frequent apply is to provoke authorized motion in opposition to the service itself,” the Russian-born French billionaire mentioned.
“It’s deceptive to make use of legal guidelines that predate the smartphone period to accuse a CEO of committing third-party crimes on the platform he manages.”
“Constructing expertise is troublesome sufficient by itself. Innovators won’t ever construct new instruments in the event that they know they might be personally chargeable for the potential misuse of these instruments,” he added.
Whereas he admitted Telegram was not excellent, he mentioned French authorities had a number of methods of contacting him and Telegram, and the app had an official consultant within the EU.
“Claims by some media shops that Telegram is a few type of anarchist haven are completely unfaithful. We take away hundreds of thousands of dangerous posts and channels daily,” he insisted.
Telegram permits teams of as much as 200,000 members, which critics say makes it simpler for misinformation to unfold and for customers to share conspiracist, neo-Nazi, pedophile or terror-related content material.
Most just lately within the UK, the app has come underneath scrutiny for internet hosting far-right channels that performed a significant position in violent riots in British cities final month.
Telegram does take away some teams, however cybersecurity specialists say general its techniques for moderating extremist and unlawful content material are considerably weaker than these of different social media firms and messaging apps.
In an announcement on Thursday, Durov acknowledged that the messaging app’s “sudden enhance” within the variety of customers — which he estimated at 950 million — “has triggered rising pains and made it simpler for criminals to abuse our platform. .
He mentioned his aim was to “considerably enhance the scenario on this space”.
Final week, the BBC realized that Telegram had Refusal to participate in international projects Designed to detect and take away little one abuse materials on-line.
Pavel Durov, 39, was born in Russia and now lives in Dubai, the place Telegram is headquartered. He holds United Arab Emirates and French citizenship.
Telegram, which he based in 2013, is especially standard in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet nations.
The app was banned in Russia in 2018 as a result of his earlier refusal handy over person information. The ban was lifted in 2021.
Telegram is listed as one of many main social media platforms after Fb, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat.
