France | Telegram billionaire Pavel Durov publicly commented on his arrest for the first time

Telegram billionaire Pavel Durov has made his first public statement since his arrest at Le Bourget airport in the Paris region on August 24.

Durov said early Friday that French authorities should have approached his company instead of arresting him. This was reported by Reuters.

Durov wrote on his Telegram channel that he denies claims that Telegram is an “anarchist paradise”. Durov said the investigation into the messaging service was surprising. He told the French authorities that he had established a direct connection with Telegram’s EU representative, and the connection could be used at any time.

“If the state is dissatisfied with the internet service, it is an established practice to initiate legal action against the service itself,” Durov wrote.

“Using pre-smartphone legislation to accuse a CEO of third-party crimes on a platform he manages is a misguided approach.”

Durov several charges have been brought against him related to his role in the operation of Telegram. He is suspected of not having taken steps to limit the criminal use of Telegram.

The investigation focuses on crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraud.

Durov admitted that Telegram is not perfect, but denied any abuse related to the app. According to him, “millions” of harmful messages and message channels are deleted in Telegram every day.