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World News

Telegram founder Pavel Durov hit with criminal charges in France after refusing to help authorities wiretap users

By
Ronny Reyes
Published Aug. 28, 2024, 4:31 p.m. ET

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was charged Wednesday with being complicit in the spread of crime on the popular messaging app, including child sex abuse, drug trafficking, and fraud, officials said.

Durov, who was arrested on Saturday in Paris, was released on a $5.6 million bail and ordered to stay in France as officials continue to investigate the allegations against Telegram, Bloomberg reports.

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov smiling after a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 1, 2017.
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France on Saturday after landing on a private jet from Azerbaijan. AP

Among the charges was an allegation that he refused to help French authorities wiretap users of the site who were suspected of crimes, Paris prosecutors said.

As part of his bail condition, Durov, a Russian-born dual-French citizen, may not leave France and must check in at a police station twice a week. 

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau accused Durov, 39, of showing a “near-total absence” of replies to legal demands from officials looking for Telegram to help crack down on crime tied to its services. 

Beccuau said other nations “have shared the same observation.”

“That’s what led JUNALCO to open an investigation into the possible criminal responsibility of the messaging app’s executives in the commission of these offenses,” Beccuau said, noting that her office was specifically targeting organized crime. 

Representatives for Durov could not be immediately reached for comment. 

Follow the latest on the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov:

With more than 900 million users around the globe, Telegram has been accused of allowing criminals and terror groups to use their services with little to no oversight.

It’s also the primary social media service in Russia, where even the military uses the app to coordinate attacks as it invades Ukraine. 

Durov’s arrest has also raised free speech concerns, with X CEO Elon Musk joining the calls to liberate the person many view as his Russian counterpart.  

Telegram has criticized Durov’s arrest, claiming that the company does abide by European Union laws and that its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly improving.”

“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” the company said in a statement.

“It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, are responsible for abuse of that platform.”

French President Emmanuel Macron maintains that the decision to bring charges against Durov was “in no way political.”