Telegram CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015. Image: Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Telegram says it abides by EU laws and that its moderation is within industry standards, but the app has been criticised for its ‘hands-off’ approach.
Pavel Durov, the CEO and co-founder of Telegram has been arrested by authorities in France, sparking a backlash from some high-profile accounts online.
Durov was arrested by police at an airport north of Paris over the messaging app’s moderation policies. French authorities have accused Durov of failing to take steps to stop criminal activity on the messaging app, such as drug trafficking and child sexual abuse material, the BBC reports.
Telegram responded to the arrest with a statement that the CEO has “nothing to hide” and that the app operates in line with regulation.
“Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving,” Telegram said. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.
“Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
Telegram has been criticised in the past for its ‘hands-off’ approach when it comes to content moderation, being accused of creating a space to spread illegal and extremist content. A Financial Times report found that the userbase of Telegram surged amid the recent UK riots. This report claimed that Telegram was one of the main platforms used to organise those riots, along with TikTok and X.
But the arrest of Durov has sparked an outcry online, with various Russian officials reportedly condemning the decision on their Telegram accounts. US whistleblower Edward Snowden – who is living in exile in Russia – called the arrest an “assault on the basic human rights of speech and association”.
“I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications,” Snowden said on X. “It lowers not only France, but the world.”
Telegram is not the only social media app accused of spreading harmful content online however, as there are various examples of these sites being used to spread disinformation, influence elections and promote violence.
Meanwhile, the protection of end-to-end encryption scored a victory earlier this year, when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that law enforcement requiring companies to create “backdoors” into this technology violates human rights.
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Telegram CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015. Image: Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
