Telegram CEO Pavel Durov responds to accusations after indictment

Durov defended the platform’s moderation efforts in a statement following a recent lawsuit filed against him, criticizing authorities for personally targeting him over users’ illegal activities.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has issued a statement regarding his recent legal troubles in France, nearly a week after a lawsuit was filed against him in the country.

Durov expressed surprise at the accusations, stressing that Telegram has an official EU representative who handles law enforcement requests. He criticized the authorities for bypassing established communication channels and questioning him personally.

He argued that before the smartphone laws, it was “the wrong approach” for a CEO to be blamed for crimes committed by others on the platform he managed.

Durov defended Telegram’s moderation practices, saying the platform made daily efforts to remove harmful content and set up communication lines with NGOs for urgent requests.

“We remove millions of harmful posts and channels every day. We publish daily transparency reports… we have direct phone lines with NGOs to process urgent moderation requests faster.”

Durov

Durov highlighted the challenges of balancing privacy and security while maintaining global consistency, especially in countries with weaker rules of law. He stressed Telegram’s desire to leave markets where its principles are compromised, citing bans imposed in Russia and Iran for refusing government demands. He added:

We are prepared to leave markets that do not align with our principles because we are not in it for the money. We are motivated by the intention of doing good and defending people’s fundamental rights, especially where those rights are being violated.

Durov’s arrest led to a sharp drop in Telegram-affiliated cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON), which lost 20% of its value during the period Durov was arrested.

Durov’s accusations

Durov was placed under judicial control after being accused of inadequate content moderation on Telegram, including charges of terrorism and drug trafficking. He was arrested at Le Bourget airport near Paris and now faces a ban on leaving French territory and twice-weekly police checks.

French-Russian billionaire Durov has faced legal challenges after French authorities accused him of involvement in a range of illegal activities. He faces 12 alleged charges.

Durov acknowledged that Telegram has a long way to go before it becomes crime-free. Durov acknowledged some growth pains due to the platform’s rapid user growth and said Telegram is committed to improving its content moderation efforts.

Telegram’s sudden increase in user base to 950 million has caused growing pains that have made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform, so I’ve made it my personal goal to make things significantly better in this regard.

He also reaffirmed the company’s mission to protect user privacy while cooperating with regulators, but made clear that Telegram is willing to exit markets where its values ​​are at risk.

The crypto community reacted strongly to the arrest and strongly supported Durov.