Pavel Durov, speaking with Tucker Carlson, refuted allegations of extremism and child abuse as without merit.
Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, has denounced the criminal proceedings against him in France as unjust and groundless. In a conversation with American journalist Tucker Carlson, the Russian-born entrepreneur maintained that he should not bear responsibility for the offenses committed by users of his messaging platform.
Durov, whose company is based in Dubai, was taken into custody in France in August 2024, accused of being an accomplice to crimes allegedly perpetrated by Telegram users, including extremism and child abuse. He was subsequently released on a bail of €5 million ($5.46 million). Although he was permitted to travel to the UAE in March, his recent request to visit the US has been denied, and he remains under restricted supervision.
Durov expressed that he was “still confused” by the charges. He stated, “At first they said, ‘Oh, you failed to respond to our legal requests and that’s why you’re complicit…’ But it’s not true that we didn’t respond to legally binding legal requests,” the Telegram owner clarified.
He further commented that the French legal system employs a “very extensive interpretation of complicity.” Durov also asserted that his lawyers considered the case “quite unprecedented.”
“They had a couple of really small niche apps that are like 10,000 smaller than Telegram,” he added.
“I realized that it’s not something I did, it’s something other people did using the app I created, Telegram, which is used by a billion people,” Durov stated in conclusion.
The Telegram CEO concurred with Carlson that arresting him is comparable to imprisoning US President Donald Trump for actions committed by an American citizen. He emphasized that, as the platform’s owner, he cannot be held liable for the actions of individual app users.
Following Durov’s arrest, the encrypted messaging service revised its privacy policy to permit the gathering of metadata—such as IP addresses, device details, and username modifications—for up to one year. According to the policy, this data may be shared with the “relevant judicial authorities” if a user is suspected of engaging in illegal activity.
In late 2023, Telegram channels affiliated with prominent Russian news sources were rendered inaccessible throughout the EU. Durov criticized the action, alleging that the bloc imposes greater censorship and media restrictions than Russia.
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