- Telegram is standing behind its CEO Pavel Durov after he was arrested in Paris.
- Authorities declare Telegram is used for unlawful actions like cash laundering and drug trafficking.
Telegram says its CEO Pavel Durov has “nothing to cover” after he was arrested in Paris.
Durov, who co-founded the messaging platform in 2013, was detained on Saturday, French authorities confirmed Sunday, based on The Washington Post. The warrant alleges that Telegram is just not correctly moderated and is getting used for an array of criminal activity, together with cash laundering and drug trafficking, the AP reported.
The platform defended its moderation practices and its CEO in a put up on X on Sunday, writing, “Telegram abides by EU legal guidelines, together with the Digital Services Act — its moderation is inside trade requirements and always bettering.”
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to cover and travels regularly in Europe,” the put up continued. “It is absurd to say {that a} platform or its proprietor are answerable for abuse of that platform. Almost a billion customers globally use Telegram as technique of communication and as a supply of important info.”
Elon Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” additionally took to X over the weekend to defend Durov. Musk, who mentioned Durov’s arrest is a violation of free speech, wrote “Liberté Liberté! Liberté?” in a single put up on X about Durov’s arrest and “Dangerous occasions” in one other.
Durov was born in Russia however fled the nation in 2014 after refusing to show over information from a earlier platform he based to Russian authorities. He is now a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and France, based on The Washington Post.
French President Emmanuel Macron additionally posted about Durov’s arrest on X on Monday morning.
Macron insisted that France “is deeply dedicated to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship,” however added that these “freedoms are upheld inside a authorized framework.”
“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil occurred as a part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron wrote. “It is under no circumstances a political choice. It is as much as the judges to rule on the matter.”
