Pavel Durov Determined to Prevent Abusers From Disrupting Telegram Platform
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 6, 2024
- . Update: September 6, 2024 1:05 pm
Pavel Durvov, the CEO and founder of Telegram, who was arrested last week by French authorities says he is trying to come to terms with what happened in Paris. He said the platform has heard their concerns and will work towards preventing abusers of Telegram’s platform from interfering with the future of its users.
Durvov shared in a post on Telegram that he was interviewed by the police for four days and was personally held responsible for other people’s abuse of the channel. He said this happened because the French authorities didn’t receive any responses from Telegram. However, the entrepreneur expressed surprise at the authorities.
The Russian said Telegram, which is a social media and instant messaging service platform, has an official representative in the European Union that accepts and replies to EU requests. He highlighted that Telegram’s email address has been publicly available for anyone in the region who googles ‘Telegram EU address for law enforcement’.
I'm still trying to understand what happened in France. But we hear the concerns. I made it my personal goal to prevent abusers of Telegram's platform from interfering with the future of our 950+ million users.
— Pavel Durov (@durov) September 5, 2024
My full post below. https://t.co/cDvRSodjst
Pavel Durov Rebukes France For Misguided Arrest
Durov described his arrest by the French authorities as ‘misguided’. He was arrested on August 25 at an airport in Paris and has been charged with allowing illicit transactions, drug trafficking, fraud, and spread of child sex abuse images on the Telegram platform.
Durov, who is a French citizen, said the French authorities could have reached him in many ways as he is a frequent guest at the French consulate in Dubai. He revealed that he had helped French authorities establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France. Durov added that the French government could have started a legal action against Telegram if it was unhappy with the service.
He pointed out that using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge Chief Executive Officer with crimes committed by third parties on Telegram is a misguided approach. Durov believes no innovator will build new tools if they know they will personally be held responsible for potential abuse of these tools.
