The billionaire, indicted, said he was “personally, disgusted” by the multiple offenses committed on his application, which he considers “bad for society and business”.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov told investigating judges in December that he “became aware in police custody of the seriousness of all the facts” reproached for his platform, according to his statements of which AFP learned on Saturday from a source close to the matter. He “did not create” Telegram in 2013 with his brother “for criminals” but their presence, “a tiny fraction”, “has also increased”conceded this man born in Saint Petersburg who has several nationalities including that of France.
The judges detailed around fifteen groups dedicated to child crime, narcotics, scams, arms sales, the use of thugs, sometimes having a presence on the platform, which earned the CEO of Telegram his dismissal. examination at the end of August for complicity in criminal activities.
“Are you aware that the ease of use of Telegram allows anyone to access illicit platforms, in a much simpler way than on the dark web?”they asked him. Pavel Durov said to himself “disagree”. Telegram is “effective” and deletes monthly “15 to 20 million user accounts and one to two million channels and groups”he replied.
Improving “the moderation process”
The billionaire questioned the lack of feedback from justice or associations, but nevertheless repeated it: he is, “personally, disgusted” by these offenses, “bad for society and business”. If the Dubai-based company announced its first annual net profit at the end of December, according to Pavel Durov, it suffers from $2 billion in debt.
-“We are committed to improving our moderation processes”he therefore promised, echoing public promises made in September, welcomed by Emmanuel Macron, adding that his “teams have made a lot of progress”. Asked about a public group called “Delivery shit weed Paris”Pavel Durov nevertheless suggested that his moderators did not know the word «shit»and that its algorithms were not trained enough.
“Even if our teams try to moderate this type of research (on drugs, Editor’s note) for several years, this research has mainly focused on markets and in languages where Telegram is the most popular. France was not part of this list. As soon as we found out about it, we improved a lot”he clarified. Before ensuring that the hired moderators were like him, “law-abiding people who had no knowledge of the drug world”.
Telegram cooperates with authorities
In France, Telegram claims to have responded to 4 legal requests in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 673 for the last. Over the first six months of 2024, globally, Telegram delivered “identification information (…) concerning more than 10,000 users”and insured by Pavel Durov. “It’s not much to look at” of your claimed 950 million users, replied an investigating magistrate. Requested, Me David-Olivier Kaminski, lawyer for Pavel Durov, did not respond.
Telegram responded to AFP that messaging “cooperates with legal authorities around the world since 2018, providing information on criminals when requested by valid requests and through the correct communication channels”.
