Telegram founder Pavel Durov spoke for the first time about his detention in France after arriving in Paris last month. The French authorities said that he could be personally responsible for the illegal use of Telegram by others due to the lack of responses to inquiries from the company. Durov noted that this situation surprised him for several reasons, UNN reports .
Details
According to Durov, Telegram has an official representative in the EU who receives and responds to requests from law enforcement agencies. This information is publicly available.
The French authorities had numerous opportunities to contact him for assistance, as he is a French citizen and frequently visited the French consulate in Dubai. Earlier, Durov personally helped set up a Telegram hotline to fight terrorism in France.
Durov emphasized that trying to hold the head of a company responsible for the actions of third parties on the platform is the wrong approach. This can hinder innovation if developers are personally responsible for the possible misuse of their tools.
Durov emphasized the difficulty of finding a balance between privacy and security, taking into account local and European laws. He noted that Telegram is ready to leave markets where regulators' requirements do not meet the company's principles. This has already happened in Russia and Iran, when Telegram refused to provide “encryption keys” and block protesters' channels.
Durov admitted that Telegram is not perfect and is working to improve. The platform removes millions of malicious posts and channels every day and publishes transparent reports. However, the growth of the number of users to 950 million has created additional security challenges, and Durov has set himself the goal of significantly improving the situation in this regard.
“I hope that the events of August will lead to Telegram and the entire social media industry becoming safer and stronger,” Durov said, thanking users for their support.
France issued arrest warrant for Durov brothers back in March - media28.08.24, 15:11