Arrest in France 'misguided,' Telegram not 'anarchic paradise': Durov
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Durov released a statement on his Telegram channel, marking the first public comments since his recent arrest in France
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Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov appears at an event in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 1, 2017. (AP)
Telegram founder Pavel Durov described his recent arrest by French authorities as "misguided," stating they could have contacted his company's EU representative with their complaints.
The Russian-born multi-billionaire denied allegations that his instant messaging application was an "anarchic paradise," emphasizing that the investigation was surprising since French authorities had access to a "hot line" they could have contacted 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.
“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach," the founder added.
Durov's comments were posted on his Telegram channel early Friday, marking his first public statements since his arrest last month.
The CEO stated that despite it not being perfect, he denied Telegram's association with abuse.
“But the claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue,” he wrote, asserting, “We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day.”
Telegram CEO charged for ‘allowing criminal activity’ on app
The French judiciary charged Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, of allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app, setting his bail at €5 million.
The billionaire, also a French citizen, was released under the condition that he report to a police station twice a week and stay within France, as stated by Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. Durov is accused of being complicit in the spread of child pornography, along with various other alleged offenses, on the messaging platform.
On August 24, the 39-year-old was detained at Le Bourget airport, near Paris, under suspicion of failing to prevent illegal content on the platform, including the exchange of child sexual imagery, drug trafficking, and fraud.
His unexpected arrest has drawn attention to the criminal liability of Telegram, a popular app with approximately one billion users, and has ignited a debate over free speech and government censorship.
