The co-founder of the Telegram messaging application was arrested in Paris last month as part of an investigation into images of sexual abuse of minors, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions linked to the application.
The founder and CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durovhas spoken publicly for the first time since his arrest in Paris last monthcriticizing the investigation by French authorities and promising greater efforts to fight crime on the messaging application.
In a published post Friday on TelegramDurov defended himself against the French judicial investigationin which he has been hit with preliminary charges for allegedly allowing the use of the platform for criminal activity, suggesting that he personally should not have been targeted.
“Use laws from the pre-smartphone era to accuse a CEO of crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is the wrong approach,” the message said.
“Creating technology is difficult enough. No innovator will build new tools if he knows he can be personally responsible. of the potential abuse of those tools,” he added.
Although he insisted that Telegram is not “some kind of anarchic paradise,” Durov said that the increase in the number of Telegram users “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”
“That’s why I made it my personal goal to make sure that we significantly improve things in this regard. We have already started that process internally, and I will share more details about our progress with you very soon,” he said.
The authorities detained Durov, a Russian billionaire who has other nationalities, including French, in Paris at the end of August in the framework of an investigation into images of sexual abuse of minors, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions linked to Telegram.
Since then has been accused of allegedly allowing criminal activities on the appbut he has avoided jail on the condition of paying 5 million euros, reporting to the police twice a week and remaining in France.
Durov’s arrest has put the spotlight on regulation of social networksat a time when Elon Muskowner of X, has launched a tirade against what he perceives as a crackdown on free speech on his platform. The arrest has also triggered protests and debates over the nature of freedom of expression all over the world.
