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Prosecutors in France have now filed charges against Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, a free speech advocate who “refused to help agencies run legal wiretaps on suspects” and is being accused of allowing criminal activity on his popular social media platform, Bloomberg reported.
More from NBC News: Pavel Durov, the CEO and co-founder of the news and messaging app Telegram, has been charged in France with enabling various forms of criminality in the app, French prosecutors said Wednesday.
One of the charges — complicity in administering an online platform permitting illicit transactions by an organized group — carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros ($555,750), prosecutors said.
It marks one of the few instances in which the CEO of a major internet platform has been charged over alleged criminal failure to moderate what users do on its platform.
In a statement Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said that Telegram had almost completely failed to respond to its legal requests for user data in prosecuting cybercrime cases.
Durov, 39, founded Telegram in 2013, and the platform’s success has turned him into a billionaire with a net worth of over $9 billion. He was born in the Soviet Union, but moved his company to the United Arab Emirates after he said the Kremlin demanded he turn over users’ data.
Prosecutors claim that Telegram has become a central hub for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and is the only major internet platform to be completely uncooperative in their attempts to curb that content, NBC wrote. However, Telegram says it removes thousands of channels a day for CSAM by utilizing moderators, artificial intelligence and user reports.
Bloomberg reported that Durov “was stopped at Le Bourget airport north of Paris on Saturday after disembarking from a private jet and placed in custody for police questioning for four days.”
On Wednesday, Paris prosecutors required Durov to post $5.6 million in bail and ordered him to not leave the country.
More from Bloomberg:
Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that while Telegram appeared in numerous cases focusing on crimes on minors, drug trafficking or online hate, her teams noted the platform’s “near complete” lack of response to legal requests for cooperation. A similar situation was reported by authorities in neighboring countries, including Belgium.
“That’s what led JUNALCO to open an investigation into the possible criminal responsibility of the messaging app’s executives in the commission of these offenses,” Beccuau said, referring to her unit focusing on organized crime.
Durov’s arrest sparked widespread outrage, but France president Emmanuel Macron justified his government’s actions in a statement on X on Monday.
Macron wrote, “I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov. France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so.”
“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. It is up to the judiciary, in full independence, to enforce the law,” he continued.
“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter,” Macron claimed.
I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov.
France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so.
In a state governed by the rule of law,…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 26, 2024
Durov was interviewed by podcast host Tucker Carlson in April, and revealed he had also rebuffed efforts by U.S. officials to infiltrate his platform.
Below is a stunning segment of Durov’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson. X user Shadow of Ezra explained:
Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently revealed to Tucker Carlson that the FBI approached a Telegram engineer, attempting to secretly hire him to install a backdoor that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on users.
The FBI also hired agents to infiltrate ‘anti-vaxx’ Telegram groups, with FBI contractors creating multiple fake online identities to join chatrooms run by groups opposing vaccine mandates.
WATCH:
Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently revealed to Tucker Carlson that the FBI approached a Telegram engineer, attempting to secretly hire him to install a backdoor that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on users.
The FBI also hired agents to infiltrate ‘anti-vaxx’… pic.twitter.com/JAetzKIJzg
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) August 24, 2024
Pavel Durov, the CEO and co-founder of Telegram, has been charged in France with enabling numerous criminal transactions, according to French prosecutors. https://t.co/GrfdiB0wEO
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 28, 2024
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