2024-08-30 06:53:28
The accusations made by the French judiciary against Telegram founder Durow are serious. The entrepreneur has paid a high bail in order to be released.
The French judiciary has opened an investigation against the founder of the controversial messenger service Telegram, Pavel Durov, and placed the Franco-Russian under judicial supervision. According to the Paris public prosecutor’s office, the investigation includes suspicions of inadequate cooperation with authorities in criminal investigations and aiding and abetting criminal acts.
After his surprise arrest on Saturday and questioning by an investigating judge, Durow was released on Wednesday evening, but under strict conditions. The founder of the news network must post bail of five million euros, report to the police twice a week and is not allowed to leave France, the public prosecutor’s office announced. The authority did not say how long the investigation might take.
In France, there are suspicions that Durov was complicit in drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud and several crimes related to child abuse through his failure to intervene in Telegram and inadequate cooperation with authorities.
He is also accused of failing to cooperate with authorities in legally permissible wiretapping measures. The Franco-Russian was therefore wanted by the authorities. On Saturday evening, Durow was arrested at an airport near Paris. According to the public prosecutor’s office, preliminary investigations against Durow have been underway since February.
The investigation against Durow could ultimately lead to a criminal trial if the investigators see sufficient evidence against the accused. Otherwise, they can also discontinue the proceedings. For the accusation of aiding and abetting illegal transactions using the chat service alone, Durow faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros, the public prosecutor’s office said.
Telegram defended itself against the allegations. The company said it adhered to all applicable rules. Durow “has nothing to hide.” In addition, it is “absurd” to hold a platform or its owner responsible for the misuse of the service by third parties. According to Durow, the messenger service, founded in 2013, now has almost a billion users and is installed as an app on hundreds of millions of mobile phones.
Telegram has long been accused of not taking consistent action against hate speech and other illegal activities. The messenger service has been criticized for being an opaquely organized platform on which criminals, including terrorists, drug dealers and warmongers, can organize themselves much more easily than on other social networks. Durov left Russia years ago because he refused to cooperate with the authorities in his home country. The company itself emphasizes that it is within “industry standards.”