Telegram Founder Pavel Durov leaves France for Dubai despite investigation
Pavel Durov, the inventor of the messaging service Telegram, has been granted permission to temporarily leave the country after being charged in France last year with a number of charges relating to unlawful conduct on the platform.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has returned to Dubai, he said Monday, seven months after being imprisoned in France on suspicions that the network was being used for criminal activity.
“I’ve returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram. The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home,” Durov posted on his Telegram channel Monday.
“I want to thank the investigative judges for letting this happen, as well as my lawyers and team for their relentless efforts in demonstrating that, when it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations,” Durov said.
Durov, 40, was held near Paris in August and prevented from leaving the country while being investigated. It was an unusual action by French police, who accused him directly with involvement for maintaining an internet platform that was perceived as facilitating illicit behavior. Following his release from jail last year, he was forced to check in at a police station twice a week.
Durov is facing up to ten years in jail. He was also charged with facilitating the spread of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud, and refusing to cooperate with law police.
Telegram, headquartered in Dubai, is unique among global social media platforms in that it has no overt links to the United States or China. It is most popular in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Russia, and has recently gained traction among those on the American extreme right.
Telegram has historically attracted terrorists, cybercriminals, and those trafficking in child sex abuse material because to its history of expressly eschewing moderation, which Durov has compared with censorship.
Durov has slammed French authorities for the detention, claiming that he cannot be held directly accountable for what users publish on Telegram. However, the firm has made many adjustments since August to more actively monitor its platform and cooperate with law enforcement organizations throughout the world.
“When it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations,” Mr. Durov said on Monday.
Telegram, which Mr. Durov launched in 2013, claims to have more than a billion users.
