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French prosecutors charged CEO Telegram Pavel Durov with facilitating various criminal activities on the messaging platform. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

French prosecutors have formally charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with facilitating various criminal activities on the platform, including the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), enabling organized crime, illicit transactions, drug trafficking, and fraud. The authorities announced a formal investigation of Durov following his arrest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durov was indicted and French authorities released under judicial supervision with a ban on leaving the French territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telegram CEO spent more than eighty hours in police custody before being charged on Wednesday, August 28, with twelve offences, including “complicity in administering an online platform to enable illicit transactions as part of an organized gang,” refusal to provide necessary information for lawful interceptions, “complicity in the dissemination of child pornography by an organized gang,” drug trafficking, fraud, criminal association, and money laundering by an organized gang. Durov has been placed under judicial supervision and is prohibited from leaving French territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavel Durov was also “placed under judicial supervision, including the obligation to post a \u20ac5 million bail, the obligation to report to the police station twice a week, and the ban on leaving French territory ,” said the Paris prosecutor’s office on Wednesday<\/a>. <\/em><\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durov was charged with refusing to provide information required by authorities to carry out legal interceptions. To avoid pretrial detention Durov must pay a \u20ac5 million bail and cannot leave France, and must report to authorities twice a week. The arrest is linked to a judicial investigation opened in France in July 2024, focused on Telegram’s lack of moderation, which have allowed extremist and malicious activities to proliferate on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavel Durov faces additional charges related to the provision and handling of cryptographic services and tools. One of the charges involves the supply of cryptographic services specifically designed to ensure confidentiality without obtaining the necessary declaration of conformity. This charge suggests that Durov may have facilitated or allowed the use of encryption services that bypass the regulatory requirements set by authorities, potentially enabling secure communications that are difficult for law enforcement to monitor.<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another charge against Durov pertains to the supply and import of cryptographic means that do not solely serve the functions of authentication or integrity control, again without the required prior declaration. This charge implies that Durov is accused of importing or providing encryption tools that go beyond basic security functions, potentially enabling more complex or opaque forms of communication without adhering to the legal protocols for such technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telegram defined absurd “to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform.” The company highlighted its commitment and efforts to ban<\/a> groups and channels related to child abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2696\ufe0f Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act \u2014 its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.

\u2708\ufe0f Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.

\ud83d\ude35\u200d\ud83d\udcab It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner\u2026<\/p>— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) August 25, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>