2024-09-06 05:12:32
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has published his first message since his release, expressing gratitude for the support:
“Thank you all for your support and love!”
Durov said he was questioned by French police within four days of arriving in Paris. He was told he could be personally responsible for the actions of third parties using Telegram for illegal purposes, as French authorities had not received the necessary information from the company.
This surprised Durov for a number of reasons:
- Telegram has an official representative in the EU who is available for contact with law enforcement. Contact information was readily available online.
- The French authorities could have approached Durov directly, as he is a French citizen and has previously provided assistance, for example, in setting up a hotline to combat terrorist threats in France.
- In civilized practice, it is accepted that if the authorities are dissatisfied with an Internet service, they file a lawsuit against the company, rather than trying to hold its manager accountable.
“Using pre-smartphone laws to charge a CEO for crimes committed by third parties on the platform he controls is misguided. Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they could be held personally liable for potential abuse of those tools,” he said.
Durov stressed that finding a balance between privacy and security is not easy, and Telegram is always open to dialogue with regulators, although it is not always possible to reach an agreement. He also noted that the company is ready to leave markets where their principles clash with the demands of the authorities, as was the case in Russia and Iran.
“We have done this many times. When Russia demanded that we hand over “encryption keys” to ensure surveillance, we refused – and Telegram was banned in Russia. When Iran demanded that we block channels of peaceful protesters, we refused – and Telegram was banned in Iran. We are ready to leave markets that are incompatible with our principles, because we do not do this for money. We are driven by the intention to do good and protect the fundamental rights of people, especially in places where these rights are violated,” he emphasized.
Telegram continues to work on improving content moderation and enhancing security in response to the growth of its user base to 950 million. Durov promised to share new steps in this direction soon.
Earlier, “Cursor” reported on 5 facts about Pavel Durov that are worth knowing.