Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has condemned his recent arrest in France as “misguided” and defended his company against accusations of insufficient content moderation.
Durov was detained on August 25 at an airport north of Paris and faces charges related to allegations of facilitating illicit transactions, drug trafficking, fraud, and the spread of child sex abuse images through his platform. In a statement posted on Telegram, Durov dismissed the claims that Telegram operates as an “anarchic paradise” and criticized the approach of holding him personally accountable for the misuse of the app by third parties.
In his statement, Durov expressed surprise at the charges and argued that holding a CEO liable for the actions of users on their platform is an outdated and ineffective legal approach. He emphasized that established practice would be to pursue legal action against the service itself rather than its executives.
Durov acknowledged that while Telegram is not perfect, the app actively removes harmful content and has mechanisms in place for communication with authorities. He admitted that the platform’s rapid user growth, now at 950 million, has led to some challenges in moderating content but pledged to improve these systems.
The arrest follows scrutiny of Telegram’s moderation practices, particularly regarding extremist and illegal content. The app has faced criticism for its handling of far-right channels and other problematic content, and has been noted for its less stringent moderation compared to other major social media platforms.
Telegram, founded in 2013, is popular in several countries, including Russia, Ukraine, and former Soviet states. The app was banned in Russia in 2018 due to Durov’s refusal to share user data but was reinstated in 2021. Durov, who holds citizenship in both the United Arab Emirates and France, has called for more nuanced and effective approaches to online content regulation.
