Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, has been unprecedentedly indicted by French authorities which are attempting to make him responsible for the actions of some of its almost 1 billion app users.
The charges, announced on Wednesday, encompass a series of allegations suggesting illicit activities facilitated via the messaging app, including enabling illegal transactions and failing to cooperate with law enforcement.
We obtained a copy of the announcement for you here.
Pavel Durov was charged with the following:
- Complicity in administering an online platform to enable an illicit transaction, in an organized group (a crime punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of €500,000)
- Refusal to communicate, upon request from the authorized authorities, the information or documents necessary for the performance and exploitation of interceptions authorized by law
- Complicity in offenses including the unjustified provision of a program or data designed to compromise an automated data processing system, organized distribution of pedo pornographic images of minors, drug trafficking, organized fraud, and forming a criminal association to commit crimes or offenses
- Money laundering of crimes or offenses in an organized group
- Providing cryptographic services intended to ensure confidentiality functions without proper declaration
- Provision and importation of cryptographic means not exclusively ensuring authentication or integrity control functions without prior declaration
Durov was released on a €5 million bail, with strict conditions including a prohibition on leaving France and mandatory twice-weekly police visits.
The Paris prosecutor’s office detailed the accusations, highlighting the alleged use of Telegram for transactions related to organized crime, including the distribution of child pornography and drug trafficking.
This arrest marks a significant moment in the ongoing scrutiny of social networks’ roles in moderating content and cooperating with global law enforcement.
The case against Durov began with a preliminary investigation launched in February, followed by arrest warrants issued in March for him and his brother Nikolai, revealing a complex web of legal challenges facing the tech entrepreneur.
Durov’s legal representative, David-Olivier Kaminski, expressed dismay at the charges in a statement published by the Agence France Presse news agency.
“The only statement I’d wish to make is that Telegram is in conformity with every aspect of European norms on digital matters,” he said.
“It is absurd to think that the head of a social network is being charged.”