French President Insists Arrest of Telegram Founder Was Not ‘a Political Decision’ After Global Outcry From Free Speech Advocates

The 39-year-old Russian founder of the encrypted messaging platform, Telegram, was arrested in France over the weekend in connection with a cybercrime investigation that was launched in July, French prosecutors announced in a press release Monday. The statement, issued by a French prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, lists twelve offenses that prompted the opening of a judicial investigation of Pavel Durov on July 8, related to complicity in online criminal activity — including the distribution of child pornography, drug trafficking, and money laundering — and Mr. Durov’s failure to cooperate with law enforcement. Ms. Beccuau noted that the investigation is being managed by France’s cybercrime and anti-fraud units ,and that Mr. Durov’s custody period has been extended until Wednesday. The magistrate will have to decide whether to press charges and keep Mr. Durov in custody or to free him before the Wednesday deadline. It is unclear whether Mr. Durov has actually been charged with each of the twelve offenses. The press release comes a few hours after President Macron confirmed Mr. Durov’s arrest and insisted that his detainment was “in no way a political decision.”“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Mr. Macron wrote on X on Monday morning. “It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.” In the same post, Mr. Macron also reiterated France’s commitment to “freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship,” adding that, “In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.” Mr. Macron’s announcement follows a statement posted on LinkedIn on Monday by the president of a French agency dedicated to investigating crimes against children, Jean-Michel Bernigaud, who claimed that Mr. Durov’s arrest was due to his messaging platform’s lack of “moderation” in “the fight against pedophilia.”The Telegram founder was arrested after landing his private jet at Le Bourget airport, just outside of Paris, on Saturday night. The special unit behind the arrest warrant is in charge of investigating crimes committed against minors, including sexual exploitation and possession and distribution of child abuse content. Telegram — which boasts nearly one billion users — was created by Mr. Durov in 2013 as a means to subvert Russian censorship and communicate freely with his brother. The platform is secured with high-level encryption and is subject to little oversight. The platform’s commitment to facilitating unbridled communication has made it particularly popular in countries which face restrictions on free speech, like Russia, Iran, and India. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the platform has become a central platform for sharing unrestricted information about the war. However, the platform is also rife with violence and misinformation and has faced criticism for becoming a safe haven for criminals and terrorists. Most recently, the platform came under fire for being used to organize violent, anti-immigrant riots that popped up across the United Kingdom in recent weeks. Telegram, however, vowed to remove calls for violence from the platform, citing that “calls to violence are explicitly forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service.”Mr. Durov’s detainment has sparked a debate about freedom of speech and the extent to which media companies should be held accountable for the information shared on their platforms. The chief executive of a popular video streaming platform, Chris Pavlovski, has been outspoken in criticizing Mr. Durov’s arrest. Mr. Pavlovski, who founded the social media network, Rumble, left a searing comment on Mr. Macron’s post on X, writing that, “When you say you are committed to freedom of expression, you are lying. We have a letter from France that proves this, without a doubt.” The Rumble founder noted that he was required to shut down his media platform in France “because you have NO commitment to freedom of expression.” His comment has since received ten thousand likes.Other free speech advocates, like Edward Snowden and Elon Musk, also have come to Mr. Durov’s defense. Mr. Musk shared the trending hashtag #FreePavel on X and Snowden described his arrest as “an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association.” The company responded to the arrest of its founder, calling it “absurd” for the French government “to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” noting that the platform “abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.” They added that Mr. Durov “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe” and that they are “awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.” Before he founded Telegram, Mr. Durov rose to fame for creating a popular social media site in 2006 called Vkontakte and was dubbed “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg.” The businessman eventually fled his home country in 2014 after he refused to comply with requests by the Kremlin for data on Ukrainian users on Vkontakte. He is a dual citizen of both France and the United Arab Emirates, where he runs Telegram.Mr. Durov’s arrest may place further strain on the already fraught relationship between France and Russia. Soon after the news broke of his detainment, Russian press speculated that France could seize Telegram data to use as a political tool.“Telegram might become a tool of Nato, if Pavel Durov is forced to obey the French intelligence services,” wrote Moskovsky Komsomolets, a Moscow daily newspaper. “Telegram chats contain a huge amount of vitally important, strategic information.”The Russian Embassy in France has reportedly reached out to French officials for further information on the arrest and has requested consular access to the detainee.

French President Insists Arrest of Telegram Founder Was Not ‘a Political Decision’ After Global Outcry From Free Speech Advocates

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