Telegram editor Pavel Durov: Arrest was ‘misplaced’ and app is not ‘anarchist paradise’

Telegram boss Pavel Durov has admitted his encrypted messaging app isn’t perfect but strongly denies it’s an “anarchist paradise,” breaking his silence after his arrest in France.

Writing on stage in his first public remarks since his arrestThe CEO argued that the French authorities’ approach was “misplaced” and should have raised concerns for the company.

He pointed out that they had access to a “hotline” that he had helped set up and that they could have contacted him. Telegrams EU
representative at any time.

The 39-year-old Russian-born man, who was granted French nationality in 2021, was detained last month in connection with the use of the social media app for images of child sexual abuse, drug trafficking and fraud.

Read more: Who is Telegram founder Pavel Durov?

His arrest in France a sign of a shift in the way countries deal with tech executives who challenge illegal content on their platforms.

The billionaire entrepreneur wrote: “We are driven by the intention to do good and defend people’s basic rights, especially in places where these rights are being violated.

“All of this doesn’t mean Telegram is perfect.

“Even the fact that authorities can get confused about where to send requests is something we need to improve.

“But the claims in some media that Telegram is some kind of anarchist paradise are absolutely untrue.

“We remove millions of malicious messages and channels every day.”

He said: “If a country is unhappy with an internet service, it is common practice to take legal action against the service itself.

“Using pre-smartphone laws to prosecute a CEO for crimes committed by third parties on the platform he controls is a misguided approach.

“Building technology is hard enough.

“No innovator will ever develop new tools if he knows that he can be held personally responsible for any possible misuse of those tools.

“Finding the right balance between privacy and security is not easy.”

Analysis: The tide could be turning against the social media giants and their bosses

Mr Durov added: “The sudden increase in Telegram’s user base to 950 million created startup problems that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.

“That’s why I’ve made it my personal goal to ensure that we significantly improve things in this area.

“We have already started that process internally and I will share more details about our progress with you soon.

“I hope that the events of August will lead to Telegram – and the social networking industry as a whole – becoming safer and stronger.”

Telegram offers end-to-end encryption, effectively protecting data from interception, and places a strong focus on privacy.

But while it is a crucial source of information about Russia’s war in Ukraine, it has also been used for criminal activities and recently by far-right activists who caused riots in the United Kingdom about the Stabbings in Southport.

Western governments have often criticized Telegram for its lack of content moderation, which experts say leaves the messaging app vulnerable to abuse by criminal and extremist gangs.

In 2022, Germany imposed fines of €5.1 million (£3.7 million) on Telegram for violating laws regulating major online platforms, including failing to establish a way to report illegal content.