Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, was finally formally charged on Wednesday by the French courts. The various charges range from money laundering to complicity in the dissemination of paedophile images and are all based on his failure to control alleged criminal activities that occurred on the platform and his failure to cooperate with the authorities.
The French move is a new development in the stalking of internet platforms and the content they allow: criminal charges against the chief executive for what users do on his app marks a new era. The charges facing Durov, who is out on bail of 5 million euros and banned from leaving France, could carry up to 10 years in prison. Durov, 39, holds Russian, French and Emirati passports.
EL PAÍS has consulted six European academics who have investigated Telegram about their opinion of the charges and other similar arrests in the future. Without going into the value of the legal decision in detail, there is a clear consensus about the dark activities that Telegram allows and that it is a change of era for the attitude of these companies with the authorities, especially in Europe. “It is the first time that we have seen the arrest of a CEO of a large platform not specifically dedicated to crime,” says Aleksandra Urman, a researcher at the University of Zurich. “Others may feel that they are no longer immune from being held personally responsible for what happens on their platforms,” she adds.
Durov’s arrest, interrogation and indictment is a warning of the consequences of going too far without clear red lines. The most important precedent is Silk Road, the Amazon of drugs from the beginning of the last decade. Its creator, Ross Ulbricht, was arrested by the FBI in 2013 and is serving a life sentence in the US. Telegram is obviously very different, but simple searches like “buy Madrid” or “buy Barcelona” produce a multitude of channels for buying drugs.
“If the questions are whether child pornography was distributed on the platform, whether it was used for the communication of organised criminal gangs or whether it was used to sell drugs, the answer to all three is yes. It is also quite clear that the platform has not done enough to combat these problems,” adds Urman, who has investigated the shadows of the platform.
The activities that Telegram allows are actually an open secret in some European countries. Although there was initial surprise at the French decision to arrest a millionaire, the motives behind it and the discontent with Telegram were obvious: “The German intelligence service is well aware of the evidence,” says Maximilian Zehring, researcher at the Technical University of Ilmenau (Germany). “They know what is happening, they know the evidence, but concrete actions are either not possible, due to Telegram’s lack of response, or they are too slow. We will see how it develops, but what is happening at Telegram has been an open secret,” explains Zehring.
The new EU legislation is one reason why tech leaders will have to be more careful about what happens on their platforms: “It should be clear to other platform leaders that states in Europe are taking their responsibility more seriously and seeking to hold owners accountable for failing to comply with laws or for failing to root out criminal behaviour on their platforms,” he says. Tanya Lokot, Professor at Dublin City University (DCU in its English acronym).
Although it is difficult to think of future arrests of specific figures for now, the feeling that things have changed, especially in Europe, is inevitable. “It can be assumed that the arrest, followed by extensive media coverage, was intended to make platform leaders take the DSA and TCO regulations seriously. [siglas en inglés de la Ley de Servicios Digitales y la regulación del Contenido Terrorista Online, ambas europeas]. In our work on the TATE research project [Tecnología en Contra del Terrorismo en Europa]I have heard small platform providers say that they were already feeling some pressure from these new regulations even before the stoppage [de Dúrov]”, explains Heidi Schulze, a researcher at the University of Munich.
Word of the prosecutor
In her report on Durov, the French public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, explains how the appearance of Telegram in various open cases on “pedophilia, trafficking and hatred on-line” and the “almost total” lack of response from the company led them to open the investigation in February 2024. It is all very recent. France also discussed its concern with other European countries, which shared its concern, “especially Belgium,” he adds.
🚨 Pavel Durov, Telegram founder, has been indicted in France for aiding illegal transactions, obstructing law enforcement, and money laundering in an organized gang.
He is under judicial control with €5M bail and travel ban. pic.twitter.com/fmN8qc5PEW
— Baptiste Robert (@fs0c131y) August 28, 2024
Europe has also been feeling for years under the thumb of platforms based in other countries, especially the US. Even though Telegram is based in Dubai, its challenge to collaborate has been even greater. “Unlike Silicon Valley, where tech giants tend to be more cooperative and are regularly held accountable for problematic content, the Durov case highlights the potential consequences of defying the rules,” says Monika Simon, researcher at the University of Amsterdam.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened to other leaders who refused to cooperate with law enforcement requests,” says Savvas Zannettou, Professor at Delft University of Technology (Netherlands). “The EU may be trying to show other leaders that if they do not take this seriously or do not cooperate, they could face consequences, with them being held responsible for any harm that may arise from the use of their services,” he added.
The spotlight is on Telegram today, but it is obviously not the only dark place on the internet. At the moment, the difference is in the collaborative efforts, but the digital landscape continues to grow with more and more offerings: “Is Telegram the only platform where drugs are sold or child pornography is spread? The answer is definitely not. The same is true for Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp or X [antes Twitter]although the scale may vary,” Urman says. “The use of these other platforms by the general public in the EU is simply much greater, so while Telegram might be seen as a platform ‘mostly for drugs, hate speech and other crimes’ in the EU, other platforms would be seen as ‘mostly normal communication, and some crime’. The other platforms are also more transparent about their moderation practices,” he adds.
This case should take into account that the French action is not without risks: the hype and media attention have turned Durov into a figure who can claim to be a martyr for freedom of expression and overprotective governments. “I am not so sure that arresting Durov was a wise decision, as the perception of the public, who are used to seeing Durov as a defender of freedom of expression, could affect how they view France’s actions as anti-freedom of expression, no matter how legally solid the accusations are,” says Tanya Lokot.
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