France has indicted the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram on charges of complicity in the distribution of child sex abuse images, aiding organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, and refusing lawful orders to give information to law enforcement.
The arrest warrants for Pavel Durov and his brother, co-founder of Telegram Nikolai Durov, reportedly were issued in March. Pavel was arrested on Saturday August 24, allegedly after a female influencer travelling with him posted real-time updates about their location and means of transportation.
At the same time, the Indian government is investigating Telegram for alleged extortion activities on the platform, and over concerns about illegal gambling operations.
Pavel Durov is a French national but was born in Russia. He also holds citizenship of the United Arab Emirates where Telegram is based. He avoided jail by putting up a $5 million bail, but has to stay in France and report to a police station twice a week.
Russian officials claim that Durov’s arrest is politically motivated, a claim strongly denied by French president Emmanuel Macron, who met with Durov on several occasions prior to Durov receiving the French nationality through a special procedure for those deemed to have made a special contribution to France.
There is no reasonable doubt that Telegram as a platform is used for illegal purposes. It’s well known that cybercriminals use it to exchange and sell both malware and information, and the app is banned in several countries.
One of the questions is whether providing the tools for a crime is a crime in itself. Logic dictates that this is not the case, or every crowbar manufacturer would be behind bars. However, the underlying question is: did Telegram do its best to prevent the app from being used for criminal activity?
Telegram commented that its moderation was:
“within industry standards and constantly improving.”
Some are asking whether this arrest is a limitation of the freedom of speech. Telegram is also used by citizens of countries with a totalitarian regime to communicate outside of the government’s reach.
This is considered safe because Telegram shares no information with any authorities about the messages or activities on the app. However, as experts have explained, Telegram is not end-to-end encrypted unless you use the “Secret Chats” feature which is not easy.
End-to-end encryption means that only the person you are sending your messages can read them. This is impossible in Telegram unless it is a one-on-one conversation with Secret Chats enabled, which only works if the other person is online.
Undoubtedly this story will develop further, and we will keep you posted about it.
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