Telegram CEO allowed ‘child pornography’, drug trafficking on app: French court

France on Thursday, August 29, charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with a litany of violations related to the messaging app, including allowing child pornography and drug trafficking, and barred him from leaving the country. The country also allowed Pavel Durov to walk free after four days of questioning.
The investigation is over suspected complicity in various crimes including running an online platform that allowed “dissemination in an organised group of images of minors in child pornography,” drug trafficking and fraud, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.
Telegram is also accused of refusing to cooperate with authorities in sharing information, money laundering and providing cryptographic services to criminals, the statement said.
Pavel Durov was arrested on Saturday, August 24, at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of the investigation into “organised crime”. Durov was released against a bail of 5 million euros ( ₹46,71,01,043) and on condition that he remains in France and report to a police station twice a week. Preliminary charges in connection with the probe have also been filed.
The first preliminary charge against him was for “complicity in managing an online platform to allow illicit transactions by an organised group”.
According to news agency AP, preliminary charges under French law mean magistrates have strong reason to believe a crime was committed. However, before sentencing the accused, they allow more time for further investigation.
In a statement, Telegram called the allegations “absurd”, while asserting that Pavel Durov has “nothing to hide”.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.. It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” the messaging app said in a post on X.
Separately, Pavel Durov is also being investigated on suspicion of “serious acts of violence” towards one of his children while he and an ex-partner, the boy’s mother, were in Paris, a source said. She also filed another complaint against Durov in Switzerland last year.
(With agency inputs)