Pavel Durov does not want to be held personally accountable for the surge of illegal activity on Telegram.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has shared a statement on his arrest, calling his four-day detention in France “surprising” and arguing that he should not be held personally accountable for Telegram’s policies, approach, or user behavior. The executive defended Telegram’s existing methods, but also acknowledged that the platform could improve in some areas in a lengthy post on Thursday.
French authorities began investigating Durov earlier this year and arrested him when his private jet landed in France last month for questioning. Authorities shared that they were considering a dozen different potential charges, many of which were related to complicity around criminal activity such as narcotics and child pornography. All of the charges were formally pressed on August 28 and Durov was subsequently released on bail, which was set at $5.
