The boss of Telegram, indicted in France, promises to strengthen the moderation of the platform following the prosecutions against him in France.
A pledge of goodwill, before facing justice? While Pavel Durov, boss of Telegram, is under investigation in France for unmoderated criminal activities on his platform, he now promises to make efforts.
“We are committed to making Telegram moderation, currently a source of criticism, a source of pride,” promised Pavel Durov on September 6 on X (Twitter).
“0.001% of users”
Arrested on August 24 in Le Bourget, Pavel Durov was indicted on August 28 for “complicity in the distribution by an organized gang of images of minors of a child pornography nature” and “complicity in drug trafficking.”
The courts have accused Telegram in particular of turning a blind eye to content that targets child sex and is linked to drug trafficking, while failing to respond to requests for cooperation from the French authorities.
In his publication, Pavel Durov assures that “0.001% (of users, editor’s note) who are involved in illegal activities create a bad image of the entire platform.”
On September 5, Pavel Durov also expressed his dissatisfaction with the prosecutions targeting him personally, assuring that Telegram deletes “millions of channels and messages” every day. He also threatened to cut Telegram off in “markets that are not compatible with our principles,” thus targeting France.