“Telegram was not created to be a platform for criminals”Pavel Durov defended himself before two investigating judges on December 6. The boss of Telegram, accused of complicity in the commission of several crimes and offenses, was heard before French justice for almost ten hours. franceinfo exclusively reveals, Friday January 17, the statements of Pavel Durov before the judges.
The boss of the social network is accused of not taking action against the dissemination of criminal content on messaging. Justice in fact suspects possible complicity of the messaging platform with criminal actions. However, the multi-billionaire – indicted at the end of August for 16 offenses – ensures that these users are “harmful to Telegram’s business and reputation”.
Questioned by the magistrates on illicit content shared en masse on Telegram, on channels which make it easy to buy drugs, on stolen bank details, on the possibility of hiring a hitman, or even on groups which offer child criminal content, Pavel Durov – accompanied by three of his lawyers – responds and promises that Telegram is committed to “improve its moderation procedures”. It also ensures that the social network deletes every month around the world “between 15 and 20 million user accounts for breaking the law”, and that Telegram is not the only social network affected by these issues, pointing the finger at its competitors.
More specifically on child criminal content, the boss of Telegram says he takes it very seriously: “We remove them the same day”he assures. In front of the judges, Pavel Durov even claims to collaborate with several associations fighting against child exploitation. Initiatives launched after the arrest of the multi-billionaire, the magistrates pointed out to him. “It was during my custody that I became aware of the seriousness of all these facts”confesses the boss of Telegram.
-To support his words, Pavel Durov explains that over the past six months, Telegram has collaborated with law enforcement and that 10,000 user data have been transmitted to authorities around the world. Between the arrest of its boss at the end of August and the end of September, Telegram responded to all of the Ofmin (Minors Office) requisitions sent, i.e. around a hundred, according to information from franceinfo. A figure which remains far below the multiple requests made each year by the French authorities and which Telegram had never responded to until now.
Despite the account deletions claimed by Pavel Durov, the use of Telegram by criminals has only increased in recent months, the judges point out, with supporting figures. Over the first five months of 2024, 535 procedures were opened solely by the gendarmerie, compared to 808 for the whole of 2023. Between 2017 and 2024, the gendarmes identified 2,000 procedures for offenses committed or facilitated via Telegram. The Pharos platform, for its part, recorded 2,700 for the year 2023 alone, led by drug trafficking, the dissemination of child criminal content, scams, terrorism and even arms trafficking.
Indicted and placed under judicial supervision, Pavel Durov had to pay bail of five million euros. He, who lives mainly in Dubai, has been forced since the end of August to stay in France and report to the police station twice a week. Another investigation was also opened against the billionaire for “serious violence” committed in Paris against one of his sons born in 2017. According to information from franceinfo, in this context, Pavel Durov's ex-partner had was heard last October by French investigators from Ofmin and had described an episode of violence, in November 2021, against her son aged 4 at the time, committed according to her statements at the hotel The Ritz in Paris.
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