Telegram CEO Durov allowed child porn, drug trafficking on app, rules French court
The arrest of the billionaire and the charges brought against him send a warning signal to other tech companies that allow illegal activities on their platforms
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder and CEO of Dubai-based Telegram, has been charged by a court in France for allowing several criminal activities on the messaging app, including child pornography, drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering.
Prosecutors in Paris in a statement said Durov has also been charged for refusing to share documents demanded by authorities.
Granted bail
Durov, 39, who was arrested on Saturday (August 24), has been granted bail. The bail amount has been set at $5.6 million, and the conditions are that he must not leave France and must report to a police station twice a week.
The charges put forth by the prosecutors say that the company did not cooperate with authorities and refused to help intelligence agencies run legal wiretaps on suspects. Prosecutors have also accused Durov of making it possible for organised criminal networks to carry out illegal transactions on the messaging app that has almost one billion users.
The arrest of the billionaire and the charges brought against him send a warning signal to other tech companies that allow illegal activities on their platforms.
Physical abuse of son
In a separate case, Durov is also under investigation for committing serious acts of violence towards one of his children, based on a complaint by the son’s mother, Durov’s ex-partner. She had also filed a complaint against him in Switzerland last year.
Telegram released a statement on Sunday (August 25) saying that Durov has nothing to hide and that the company abides by European laws.
The statement read, “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
