Pavel Durov, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Social Media Platform, Telegram, has cried out over his detention by the French Police one year ago which makes him “to return to France every 14 days, with no appeal date in sight”.
Durov said, he was arrested as a result of the French Police’s own mistake.
The Instant Messaging Platform boss said, his arrest was due to “actions of its users”, and described it as “legally and logically absurd”.
Via X, Pavel Durov vented: “One year ago, the French police detained me for 4 days because some people I’d never heard of used Telegram to coordinate crimes. Arresting a CEO of a major platform over the actions of its users was not only unprecedented — it was legally and logically absurd.
“A year later, the ‘criminal investigation’ against me is still struggling to find anything that I or Telegram did wrong. Our moderation practices align with industry standards, and Telegram has always responded to every legally binding request from France.
“Ironically, I was arrested due to the French police’s own mistake: before August 2024, they ignored French and EU laws and hadn’t sent any of their queries to Telegram via the required legal process. They could have learned the correct procedure simply by googling it or asking.
“One year after this strange arrest, I still have to return to France every 14 days, with no appeal date in sight. So far, the only outcome of my arrest has been massive damage to France’s image as a free country. One thing is certain: we’ll keep fighting — and we will win”
Photo: Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov | Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch
