Telegram founder Pavel Durov charged over criminal activity on Telegram

The Russian-born billionaire faces six charges related to various illegal activities on the messaging platform, from cyber crime to the sharing of child sexual abuse material.

French authorities have officially indicted Russian-born tech billionaire Pavel Durov regarding a lack of moderation and a lax attitude towards criminal activity on his Telegram messaging platform.

Despite the charges, Durov has been released from custody with €5 million bail.

Durov is expected to remain in France, however, and must report to police twice each week.

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According to a 26 August statement from the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, Durov was initially detained over the weekend following an 8 July judicial investigation based on the following 12 charges:

Complicity – web-mastering an online platform in order to enable an illegal transaction in organised group.
Refusal to communicate, at the request of competent authorities, information or documents necessary for carrying out and operating interceptions allowed by law.
Complicity – possessing pornographic images of minors.
Complicity – distributing, offering or making available pornographic images of minors, in organised group.
Complicity – acquiring, transporting, possessing, offering or selling narcotic substances.
Complicity – offering, selling or making available, without legitimate reason, equipment, tools, programs or data designed for or adapted to get access to and to damage the operation of an automated data processing system.
Complicity – organised fraud.
Criminal association with a view to committing a crime or an offence punishable by five or more years of imprisonment.
Laundering of the proceeds derived from organised group’s offences and crimes.
Providing cryptology services aiming to ensure confidentiality without certified declaration.
Providing a cryptology tool not solely ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration.
Importing a cryptology tool ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration.

Now, according to Politico Europe, six charges have now been officially laid against Durov, including “managing an online platform ‘in order to enable an illegal transaction in organised group,’ and refusal to cooperate with law enforcement authorities”.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office said that Telegram “appears in multiple cases involving various offences (child sexual abuse offences, trafficking, online hate)” and that “Telegram’s almost total failure to respond to judicial requests” was a serious concern.

The 39-year-old Durov holds dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship. He lives in Dubai, where Telegram is headquartered and is thought to be worth US$9 billion.

Following Durov’s arrest, Telegram released a statement decrying Durov’s detention.

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“Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” a Telegram spokesperson said on 25 August.

“It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, are responsible for abuse of that platform.”

David Hollingworth

David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.

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Telegram founder Pavel Durov charged over criminal activity on Telegram

David Hollingworth

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