The founder of the messaging app, Pavel Durov, who is under investigation in France, said late Thursday that French authorities should have taken their complaints to his company rather than arresting him.
In a post on TelegramIn his first comments since his arrest, Durov said it was “surprising” that he was being held responsible for other people’s content.
“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,” he said.
He also said the investigation into the app was surprising because French authorities could contact Telegram’s EU representative at any time.
Durov claims that Telegram is not an anarchic paradise
Durov, who was arrested last month in France as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions linked to the use of the app.
According to Durov, Telegram is not perfect, but he denied that the app actively enables crime.
“But some media claims that Telegram is some kind of anarchic paradise are completely false,” he wrote. “We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day.”
The CEO vowed to make Telegram more secure
Durov said Telegram’s growing user base, which he now puts at 950 million worldwide, “caused growing pains.”
The CEO said that he has “made it his personal goal to ensure that we can significantly improve things in this regard,” adding that this is being worked on “internally” and that more details will be shared in the future.
Durov expressed hope that the August events would result in his company and the social networking industry as a whole being “safer and stronger.”
He added that if Telegram can’t agree on “the right balance between privacy and security” with local regulators, the company is “ready to leave this country.”
Arrested at Le Bourget airport
Arrived aboard a private jet at Le Bourget airport outside Paris and was questioned by investigators over the next several days.
He was charged after four days of detention in France.
The Telegram CEO was conditionally released on €5 million ($5.5 million) bail. He has to report to the police station twice a week and stay in France.
dh/sms (AFP, Reuters)
Post Durov says France should complain to Telegram appeared first German wave.