Telegram CEO Addresses Platform Abuse In First Comments Since Arrest

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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Thursday publicly addressed his recent arrest in France for the first time. He admitted the platform’s rapid growth to 950m users led to “growing pains” that enabled criminal misuse.

French authorities arrested Durov on Aug. 24 at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. His arrest resulted from an investigation into Telegram’s role in criminal activities. These activities included drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Authorities linked these issues to a lack of sufficient content moderation on the platform.

Ultimately, he was charged with helping manage an online platform that facilitated illegal activities by organized groups. The action is part of a broader investigation into how tech platforms handle illegal content, raising international concerns about internet regulation and free speech.

Durov’s case has sparked debates on free speech, privacy and the responsibility of tech CEOs in managing platform content.

I'm still trying to understand what happened in France. But we hear the concerns. I made it my personal goal to prevent abusers of Telegram's platform from interfering with the future of our 950+ million users.

My full post below. https://t.co/cDvRSodjst

In a Thursday post on Telegram, Durov shared that French authorities told him he could be held personally responsible for others’ misuse of the platform because Telegram hadn’t responded to their requests.

He said he found this surprising, noting that Telegram has an official EU representative who manages and answers inquiries from the EU.

Further, Durov criticized the strategy behind