Telegram CEO Pavel Durov charged but released under judicial supervision

His arrest at Le Bourget airport on Saturday evening, August 24, sent shockwaves. After more than 80 hours in police custody – the time limit applicable for crimes related to organized crime was extended to 96 hours – Telegram messaging boss Pavel Durov was officially investigated on Wednesday, August 28, for all 12 offenses listed in the indictment, including “complicity in the management of an online platform facilitating illegal transactions by an organized group,” “refusal to provide, at the request of the authorized authorities, the information or documents necessary for the implementation and operation of the wiretapping operations authorized by law,” “complicity in the gang-organized distribution of images of minors of a child pornographic nature, drug trafficking, organized gang fraud, criminal conspiracy to commit crimes or misdemeanors.” and “money laundering of crimes or misdemeanors in an organized gang.”

In a statement released on Wednesday evening, the Paris prosecutor's office added: “He is under judicial supervision and is required to post bail of five million euros, report to the police twice a week and not leave France.”

On July 8, a judicial investigation was opened “against an unnamed person”, a few months after the cybercrime department of the Paris public prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation. Specifically, the company – and therefore its CEO – is accused of a lack of cooperation with the authorities, particularly in cases of organized crime and child pornography. The judges have asked the C3N (Centre de Lutte Contre les Criminalités Numériques) and the ONAF (Office National Anti-Fraude) to continue their investigations.

“Telegram complies with European laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is in line with industry standards,” the platform said in a statement on Sunday evening, August 25. It is “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.” Telegram's lawyer had not responded to our inquiries by the time of going to press.

Quasi-absence of moderation

With nearly a billion users worldwide, a large proportion of them in the former Soviet republics, Telegram has become one of the world's leading messaging services, alongside WhatsApp. This success is due not only to its user-friendly interface and large discussion groups accessible to everyone, but also to the almost total lack of moderation and cooperation with the law enforcement authorities. While it is possible to use the application as a simple messaging space between two users, many groups – which can be found in a few minutes using keywords – use it for illegal activities, such as selling drugs or fake documents, promoting terrorism or cryptocurrency fraud.

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