Pavel Durov said his goal is to fight criminals on Telegram
Telegram messenger founder Pavel Durov made his first statement on Thursday, September 5, after being detained at Le Bourget Airport in Paris.
He called the French authorities’ claims against him “surprising.” According to Durov, he was interrogated for four days.
Last month, I was questioned by the police for four days after arriving in Paris. I was told that I could be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram. This is surprising for several reasons.
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Durov called the accusations against him erroneous
Durov emphasized that Telegram has an official representative in the European Union (EU) who responds to requests, and the French authorities had “many ways” to contact the creator of the messenger “and ask for help.”
Thus, he noted that as a French citizen, he often visited the country’s consulate in Dubai.
Some time ago, when I was asked, I personally helped them create a hotline with Telegram to combat the threat of terrorism in France
He also called the charges against him as Telegram CEO “wrong” because of crimes committed by others on the messenger. In his opinion, if a country is unhappy with an internet service, it should file a lawsuit against the service itself.
Using pre-smartphone laws to charge a CEO for crimes committed by third parties on a platform he controls is a misguided approach. Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever create new tools if they know they could be held personally liable for potential abuse of those tools.
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Durov spoke about the balance between privacy and security
Telegram’s founder pointed out that striking the right balance between privacy and security is not easy, but his messenger is committed to working with regulators to find the right balance.
According to him, the service adheres to the principles of protecting users in authoritarian regimes, but its management is always open to dialogue. If an agreement cannot be reached, the company leaves the state, as was the case in Russia and Iran.
However, Durov emphasized that this does not mean that Telegram is perfect. For example, even if states are confused about where to send a request, this is something that should be improved. But claims that Telegram is some kind of anarchic paradise are absolutely not true, the founder of the messenger said.
Claims by some media outlets that Telegram is some kind of anarchic paradise are absolutely not true. We remove millions of malicious posts and channels every day. We publish daily transparency reports
He added that Telegram has direct hotlines with NGOs to process urgent moderation requests more quickly.
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Durov called the fight against criminals in Telegram a personal goal
Durov explained that the sharp increase in the number of Telegram users to 950 million caused problems that made it easier for attackers to abuse the platform. However, the businessman assured that he had set himself the task of improving the situation in this regard.
That’s why I’ve set myself the goal of significantly improving the situation in this regard. We’ve already started this process internally, and I’ll share with you the details of our progress very soon.
Durov also thanked Telegram users for their support, “for love and memes.”
Earlier, it was reported that the court banned Pavel Durov from leaving France for six months. He was detained at the Paris airport on the evening of August 24. He spent four days in custody and appeared in court. The businessman is suspected of involvement in offenses under 12 articles. It is assumed that Telegram was used to commit these crimes.
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