Telegram CEO charged in France for ‘enabling criminal activity’ on messaging app | Telegram

Telegram boss Pavel Durov was charged by French justice for allegedly allowing criminal activities via the messaging app, but he avoided a prison sentence thanks to a five million euro bail.

The Russian-born multi-billionaire, who has French citizenship, was released on the condition that he report to the police twice a week and remain in France, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

The charges against Durov include aiding and abetting the distribution of sexual images of children and a number of other alleged violations in the messaging app.

Durov, 39, was arrested on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris. He is accused of failing to take action against illegal content on the service, including the exchange of images of sexual depictions of children, drug trafficking and fraud.

His surprise arrest has drawn attention to the criminal liability of Telegram, the popular app with around a billion users, and sparked a debate about free speech and state censorship.

French investigators specializing in cybercrime and fraud announced earlier this week that Durov’s arrest was part of a broader investigation into a lack of moderation of suspected criminal activity on the messaging app.

In a statement on Sunday, Telegram said it complies with European Union laws and that its moderation “meets industry standards and is constantly improving.”

“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently throughout Europe,” it said. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.”

Durov, a self-proclaimed libertarian often referred to as “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg,” lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and holds citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates.

He recently said he tried to settle in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco before settling on Dubai, which he praised for its business environment and “neutrality”.

Telegram has long been closely monitored by law enforcement agencies around the world because it is suspected to be used by terrorist organizations, drug traffickers, arms dealers and right-wing extremist groups to communicate, recruit and coordinate.

In a rare interview with the Financial Times in March, Durov, whose fortune is estimated at more than $9 billion (£6.8 billion), said child abuse material and public calls for violence were “red lines” for Telegram.

But he has also repeatedly praised the platform’s minimal moderation policies and commitment to free speech, and boasted that his company employs only 30 full-time engineers.

Durov has largely managed to avoid the public scrutiny faced by top executives at other technology companies, such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. He has rarely given interviews, preferring to showcase his ascetic lifestyle to his followers on Instagram, where he occasionally shares photos of himself shirtless. Last month, he told his social media followers that he now has more than 100 biological children as a sperm donor.

Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with Kremlin demands to close opposition groups on the social network VK, which he founded at age 22. After a dispute with its pro-Kremlin owners, he was forced to sell VK and turned his attention to Telegram, the app he founded with his brother Nikolai in 2013.

Russia tried to ban Telegram in 2018, but lifted all restrictions on the platform after Russian authorities said Durov was ready to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

While Durov has at times portrayed himself as a Russian exile, leaked border data obtained by the Guardian showed that he visited the country more than 50 times between 2015 and 2021, leading to renewed speculation about his ties to the Kremlin.

Russian officials have portrayed Durov’s arrest as politically motivated, a claim that French President Emmanuel Macron has strongly denied.

Questions were also raised about the timing and circumstances of Durov’s detention, particularly whether he knew that Paris had issued an arrest warrant for him.

The newspaper Le Monde reported that Durov met with Macron several times before being granted French citizenship in 2021 under a special procedure reserved for people who have made special contributions to France.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Macron suggested to Durov in 2018 that Telegram headquarters be moved to Paris. Durov reportedly rejected the offer.