Big news for Pavel Durov! The Telegram CEO is back home in Dubai, finally free after spending months in France due to legal issues that had put a temporary stop to his travels.

Yes, you heard that right. Durov, who’s been dealing with some serious accusations related to activity on his popular messaging platform, was given a window between March 15th and April 7th to leave France. He happily announced his return to his massive Telegram audience of 950 million users, letting them know the legal process is still ongoing, but expressing his relief at being back in Dubai.

“As you probably know, I’ve returned to Dubai after being in France for several months because of an investigation into criminal activity on Telegram,” Pavel shared in a Telegram post. “The legal stuff is still happening, but it’s great to be home. Huge thanks to the investigative judges for allowing me to come back, and to my amazing lawyers and team for their hard work in showing that Telegram has always gone above and beyond its legal duties when it comes to moderating content, cooperating with authorities, and fighting crime. We’ve been on top of this for years.”

Travel Ban Lifted in France Amidst Ongoing Investigation

Pavel, who is a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, had been under judicial supervision ever since his arrest in Paris on August 24, 2024. This meant checking in with the police twice a week, putting up a hefty €5 million bail, and staying put in France until further notice. However, the prosecutor’s office in Paris confirmed that the investigative judges decided to suspend his judicial order for a few weeks, which gave him the green light to leave the country.

The charges Pavel is facing are serious: complicity in running an online platform used for illegal transactions by organized crime groups. If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a €500,000 fine. French prosecutors are claiming Telegram was used for criminal deals and sharing child sexual abuse material. Pavel is strongly refuting all accusations, calling the legal actions taken by France misguided.

“If a country has a problem with an internet service, the usual way to handle it is to take legal action against the service itself,” Pavel explained. “Using outdated laws from before smartphones to accuse a CEO of crimes committed by other people on their platform? That’s just not the right approach.”

He also pointed out the bigger picture: who would want to create groundbreaking technology if they might be personally blamed for how others misuse it?

Durov Defends Telegram’s Record on Law Enforcement Cooperation

Pavel is pushing back against the narrative that Telegram doesn’t work with law enforcement. He revealed that he was questioned for four days straight in August after arriving in Paris from Baku, Azerbaijan. The authorities were claiming he was personally responsible for illegal things happening on Telegram because French investigators weren’t getting responses from the company.

“I was told I could be held personally accountable for illegal use of Telegram by others because the French authorities hadn’t received replies from Telegram,” Pavel stated, expressing his surprise. He clarified that Telegram actually has an official representative in the EU who deals with government requests.

He also mentioned that Telegram already had a dedicated hotline with French authorities specifically for tackling terrorism-related threats. He added that he was actually quite a frequent visitor to the French consulate in Dubai, which made these charges even more unexpected for him.

The investigation has even sparked some political whispers. Before his arrest in France, there were rumors that Pavel was in Azerbaijan to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the Kremlin has denied that any such meeting ever occurred.

Telegram Tackles Growing Concerns About Illegal Activity

This legal situation in France has brought back into focus the ongoing global worries about Telegram’s content moderation policies. Governments have voiced concerns that the platform is becoming a safe haven for fraudsters, drug dealers, and terrorists. Telegram’s focus on privacy has made it particularly attractive in countries where internet censorship is tight.

Critics argue that Telegram isn’t doing enough content moderation, but Pavel insists that his platform is keeping up with industry standards and is always working to improve.

“Sometimes, we might not see eye-to-eye with a country’s regulator on finding the right balance between privacy and security. In those situations, we’re prepared to leave that country. We’ve done it before,” Pavel said.

He gave Russia and Iran as examples, where Telegram stood its ground and refused to compromise user privacy by handing over encryption keys to government agencies. Ultimately, the app was banned in both countries.

“None of this means Telegram is perfect. Even the fact that authorities could be confused about where to send requests is something we need to fix. But the claims in some media that Telegram is some kind of lawless zone are just not true,” Pavel clarified.

He added that Telegram is actively removing millions of harmful posts and channels every day and has direct hotlines with NGOs to quickly handle urgent moderation requests.

Pavel acknowledged that Telegram’s explosive growth has presented challenges for keeping on top of moderation. With a massive 950 million users now, the platform’s rapid expansion has unfortunately created openings for bad actors to exploit the service.

“That’s why making significant improvements in this area has become my personal priority,” Pavel stated. “We’ve already started this process within the company, and I’ll be sharing more details about our progress soon.”

Despite the ongoing legal challenges, Pavel is still positive about Telegram’s future. He ended his message by thanking his supporters, saying, “Thanks again for your love and memes!”

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Source: cryptopolitan.com