For the first time since his arrest two weeks ago, Telegram boss Durov has commented on the matter. The claim that Telegram is an “anarchist paradise” is “absolutely untrue” and the investigations against him are “surprising” and “misguided”.
In his first public statement since his arrest two weeks ago, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has denied the allegations against his short message service. “The claim that Telegram is some kind of anarchist paradise is absolutely untrue,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. “We remove millions of harmful posts and channels every day. We publish transparency reports every day.”
He also criticized the actions of the French authorities. They could have used a hotline set up by his company or contacted Telegram's EU representative.
The 39-year-old said it was “surprising” that he was being held responsible for the content shared by other people. He criticised “the application of pre-smartphone era laws to charge a CEO for crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages”. This was a “misguided approach”.
Investigators: Complicit through lack of intervention
Durow is free on bail and is not allowed to leave France. French investigators accuse him of inadequate cooperation with authorities – for example in criminal investigations and legally permissible wiretapping measures. There is suspicion that Durow has made himself complicit in drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud and several offenses related to child abuse by failing to intervene in Telegram and failing to cooperate with authorities.
In his message, Durov acknowledged that Telegram's rapidly increasing user numbers (more than 950 million users) are “causing growing pains that make it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.” He has therefore made it his personal goal to “significantly improve things in this regard.” Telegram wants to become significantly better at moderating content. The goal is for the network industry as a whole to become stronger and safer.
Privacy vs. Security interests
It is a difficult balancing act to operate globally on the one hand and to please every country on the other. The network is open to dialogue, but the principle is to protect users in authoritarian states. Sometimes there is no agreement between the need to protect privacy and the security interests of the authorities. “In these cases, we are prepared to leave the country. We have done that many times.” In the past, Telegram has also refused to hand over encryption codes to Russian and Iranian authorities for monitoring users.
