PARIS – Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov pledged to step up efforts to fight crime on the messaging app, his first public comments since French authorities handed him preliminary charges for allegedly allowing the platform to be used for criminal activity.
In a Telegram post late Thursday, Durov defended himself against the French judicial inquiry, suggesting he should not be targeted personally.
“Using the laws of the pre-smartphone era to charge CEOs for crimes committed by third parties on platforms they operate is a misguided approach.” “Building technology is difficult enough as it is. No researcher would ever build new tools if they knew they could be held personally liable for the possible misuse of those tools.
Read more: What to know about Telegram founder Pavel Durov
Insisting that Telegram is “not some kind of anarchic paradise,” Durov said the growing number of Telegram users “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”
“That is why I have made it my personal goal to ensure that we can significantly improve this matter. We have already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you soon,” he said.
French investigators detained Durov at Le Bourget airport outside Paris in late August and questioned him for four days as part of a clean-up probe opened earlier this year. Durov, released on bail of 5 million euros, has to report to the police station twice a week. Born in Russia, he holds several citizenships, including French.
French allegations against Durov include that Telegram was used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, and that the platform refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.
In his post, Durov said that during police detention, “I was told that I could be personally responsible for the illegal use of Telegram by others, as the French authorities had not received a response from Telegram.”
“This was surprising for several reasons,” he added.
He said Telegram has an official representative in the European Union who responds to EU requests with a public email address.
Telegram’s website informs users that they can access the app through bots and includes a link to report illegal content. It also includes email addresses and phone numbers for “competent authorities of the EU and EU members” to use. “If you are not a competent EU or EU member official, your request will not be processed,” it says.
In his post, Durov said “the French authorities had numerous ways to reach me to request assistance.” He said he had previously worked with him “to set up a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France”.
“If a country is unhappy with an Internet service, the established practice is to initiate legal action against the service itself,” he said.
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