French authorities charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with six crimes on Wednesday related to allegations that the tech leader allowed illegal activity to proliferate on his platform.
Following Durov’s arrest this weekend, Telegram said in an unattributed statement that the CEO has “nothing to hide,” that the company abides by “EU laws,” and that “it is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform.”
The influential messaging platform has grown to be a primary source of information in the war in Ukraine and Russia but has repeatedly been called out by critics and researchers for refusing to remove graphic, misleading, and sometimes criminal content. Despite consistent pressure to do so from governments around the world, Telegram rarely shuts down channels or removes posts from its servers.
Over the weekend, authorities in France arrested Durov, later stating in a press release that there was an ongoing investigation into posts related to images of child sexual abuse, drug trafficking, and money laundering, among other offenses. On Wednesday, he was charged.
In France’s criminal justice system, Durov’s indictment allows for more time for investigation.
Durov’s arrest raises questions about free speech and content moderation.
What do we know about Durov’s charges?
Durov, a Russian and French citizen, was charged on Wednesday with multiple offenses, including “complicity” in the distribution of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking on Telegram while refusing to cooperate with the authorities’ investigation into the platform.
The charge of complicity in managing an online platform that allows organized crime carries up to 10 years in prison and a 500,00 Euro fine, French officials said, according to The Associated Press.
Durov was released from police custody on Wednesday but is barred from leaving France. He’ll also have to report to a police station twice a week, AP reported, citing the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Telegram called Durov’s arrest “absurd” and said that the company is “awaiting a prompt resolution” of the situation.
The AP, citing French media, quoted his attorney, David-Olivier Kaminski, saying, “It’s totally absurd to think that the person in charge of a social network could be implicated in criminal acts that don’t concern him, directly or indirectly.”
Durov’s arrest has received backlash from free-speech absolutists like Elon Musk — although his track record for allowing speech on X has also come into question.
Musk, who has been criticized for the lack of content moderation on his platform X, defended Durov and painted the Telegram CEO’s arrest as a broader global threat around free speech.
Daniel Lyons, an internet law expert at Boston College Law School, told The New York Times that Durov’s charges could push other social media platforms to apply more moderation to ensure that they’re complying with local laws.
“As a CEO, seeing that you are personally put at risk, I’m going to have much lower tolerance for speech and transactions at the margins. It would at least make me question where I’m traveling and why,” Lyons told the Times.
Durov’s charges are a signal to other tech and social media executives to toe the line, Harmeet K. Dhillon, founder and managing partner of the Dhillon Law Group and former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party, told Business Insider in a statement.
“The EU has made similar threats against X and Rumble, among others,” she said. “This will have a chilling impact worldwide, which, of course, is its intended purpose.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the decision to bring charges was “in no way a political decision” and that his country was “deeply committed” to freedom of expression, AP reported.
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