Last Updated on 06/09/2024 by Arun jain
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has criticized French authorities for “misguidedly” pursuing criminal charges against him instead of contacting his company in his first public comments since his arrest.
In a post on Telegram on Thursday, Durov said he was “surprised” to learn that he could be held personally liable for illegal activities by others on his social media-cum-messaging platform.
“If a country is unhappy with an Internet service, the established practice is to initiate legal action against the service itself,” wrote the Russian-born tech entrepreneur.
“Using the laws of the pre-smartphone era to charge CEOs with crimes committed by third parties on platforms they operate is a misguided approach.”
Durov said Telegram has an official representative in the European Union who uses a publicly available email address and that French authorities had “numerous ways” to reach him personally.
France’s handling of the case risks stifling innovation in tech, he said.
“Building technology is as difficult as it gets,” he wrote. “No researcher would ever create new tools if they knew they could be held personally liable for the possible misuse of those tools.”
Durov, a citizen of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates and Saint Kitts and Nevis, also hit out at suggestions that Telegram was an “anarchic paradise”.
“We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day,” he wrote.
However, Durov acknowledged that there are voices that argue that Telegram’s efforts are “not enough”.
“The number of Telegram users suddenly increased to 950 [million] “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform,” he wrote.
“That is why I have made it my personal goal to ensure that we can significantly improve this matter. We’ve already started that process internally, and I’ll be sharing more details about our progress with you very soon.”
French authorities arrested Durov last month as part of an investigation into criminal activity at Telegram and the platform’s alleged lack of cooperation with law enforcement.
Judicial authorities last week placed the 39-year-old tech founder under formal investigation on 12 charges.Including providing cryptographic services to criminals and engaging in running online platforms that allow illegal transactions, images of child sexual abuse, drug trafficking and fraud.
Durov’s arrest and indictment have reignited long-running debates about the balance between freedom of speech, privacy and harm to policing online.
Tech founders and Internet freedom advocates, including X owner Elon Musk and whistleblower Edward Snowden, have condemned the case as a threat to freedom of expression.
Russia has also expressed concern, challenging French authorities to provide “strong evidence” to justify the allegations.
Post Telegram CEO Pavel Durov hits out at ‘wrongful’ arrest appeared first Al Jazeera.