Fraud and hatred not prevented
Telegram rejects accusations against founder Durow
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The telegram founder remains in custody in France. The messenger service stands behind his boss and rejects all allegations against him. The French judiciary continues to believe that Durow had done too little against drug trafficking, child abuse and fraud on the platform.
According to media reports, the founder of the Telegram trade fair service, Pawel Durow, is still in police custody after arresting in France. Several French media unanimously reported that the police custody had been extended on Sunday evening.
The chat service itself defends itself against the allegations. In a statement, the company wrote that all applicable rules would be complied with, including the new Digital Act DSA, which is intended to make a more consistent access to illegal content and activities on large online platforms. Durow “has nothing to hide” and often travel in Europe. In addition, it is “absurd” to blame a platform or its owner for the abuse of the service by third parties.
Telegram has long been accused of not consistent enough against hate speech and other illegal activities. The company itself emphasizes that you lie within “the standards of the industry”.
Missing intervention in serious crimes?
The French judiciary could see it differently. According to reports, prerequisites for Durow have been running for a long time. The suspicion should be that he had made compliance with a lack of intervention by Telegram and inadequate cooperation with authorities of drug trade, fraud and several offenses in connection with child abuse. The Franko Russian was therefore sought by the authorities.
Surprisingly, Durow was arrested on Saturday evening at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, as the broadcaster TF1 and BFMTV and other French media reported, citing investigators. Why he traveled from Azerbaijan to France, where he was searched, was initially unclear. The Paris public prosecutor did not want to comment on the case.
The Russian embassy in France had already adopted the case, it was said in a statement by the Foreign Ministry in Moscow cited by the state Russian news agency TASS. The French authorities were called to allow consular access to Durow, said Russia's foreign office spokeswoman Maria Sacharova. “The only problem is that Durow also has French citizenship,” she said. “Accordingly, France will primarily see him as his citizen.” Durow's relationship to the Russian authority is difficult.
Durow founded Telegram with his brother Nikolai, after both had already launched the VK.com network, a kind of Russian -speaking Facebook. Telegram is one of the most important online networks in Russia, which is also used for communication by many authorities and politicians. In the Russian attack war against Ukraine, the service is used for communications from both sides.
