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Russian internet entrepreneur Pavel Durov has been charged with 12 counts of failing to cooperate with a French police investigation and complicity in a number of crimes, including drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography and fraud, according to the French charge sheet released on August 26.
Durov, founder and chairman of messaging service Telegram, has already been questioned on the 12 charges in a French prison, according to the cybercrime department of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Durov was detained on August 24 at 20:00 local time after deplaning at the Le Bourget airport in Paris.
The charges are as follows:
- Aiding and abetting in the administration of an online platform for illegal transactions
- Refusal to provide information or documents required for interception authorised by law at the request of authorised bodies
- Complicity in the storage of pornographic images of a minor
- Conspiracy to organise the distribution, offer or provide pornographic images
- Assistance in the acquisition, transportation, storage, offer or transfer of narcotic drugs
- Aiding and abetting the offer, transfer or provision of equipment, tools, programs or data designed or adapted to access the operation of an automated data processing system without legal grounds
- Complicity in fraud committed by an organised group
- Criminal conspiracy to commit a felony or misdemeanour punishable by at least 5 years in prison
- Laundering of crimes or offences as part of an organised group
- Providing cryptographic services to ensure privacy without a declaration of conformity
- Provision of a cryptographic means that does not exclusively perform authentication or integrity control functions without prior declaration
- Importation of a cryptographic device that does not exclusively perform authentication or integrity control functions without prior declaration.
If convicted, Durov faces between 5 and 10 years imprisonment and a fine of between €150,000 and €500,000 under the new EU Digital Services law introduced earlier this year governing “very large social media platforms”.
The most serious charge that police could have brought, of being an accomplice to the criminal activities on Telegram, was not included, which carries a far longer sentence and heavier fine.
French authorities extended Durov’s detention on August 26 to 96 hours, after which he must either be formally charged or be released. Durov holds dual French and Russian nationality.
TF1 TV and BFM TV, both quoting unidentified sources, said the investigation is focused on a lack of moderation on the platform.
Telegram said in a statement that Durov “has nothing to hide” and travels frequently in Europe and added that the platform abides by European Union laws, including the Digital Services Act, which aims to ensure a safe and accountable online environment.
“Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information,” the app’s statement read. “We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram asking whether Western human rights NGOs would be silent on Durov’s arrest, after they criticised Russia’s decision to “create obstacles” to the work of Telegram in Russia in 2018. Russia’s political class are spinning Durov’s detention as a free speech issue and using that to highlight the EU supposed hypocrisy over its adherence to its own values.
Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members, which critics have argued makes it easier for misinformation to spread, and for users to share conspiracist, neo-Nazi, paedophilic or terror-related content. Telegram stands out from the various messaging apps and social media platforms for its radical lack of moderation of what content is shared by its members.
Durov was detained as the French hope to “censor the truth”, US journalist Tucker Carlson believes, who recently held a rare interview with Durov.
“It was a western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic Nato member that locked him away. Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies. Darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world,” Carlson said on his X page.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied news media reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly had met with Durov during his visit to Azerbaijan.
“No,” Peskov said, when asked whether the meeting had actually happened there.
The decision to detain Pavel Durov, co-founder of the Telegram messenger, is not political, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.
“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,” the French leader wrote on his X page.
Macron added that he sees “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,” he said. “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,” Macron added. “It is up to the judiciary, in full independence, to enforce the law,” he emphasised.
Investigators in France have questioned the bodyguard and assistant Durov, after which they were released, the French publication Le Figaro reports .
Following the news of Durov’s arrest, the Toncoin (TON), the cryptocurrency he set up, fell in price by 18.9%: from $6.79 at 23:40 Moscow time on August 24 to $5.5 at 15:00 Moscow time on August 26, according to data from the Binance exchange, Vedomosti reports.
Pavel and Nikolay Durov announced the launch of the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain back in 2018, but in 2020 they were forced to abandon the project due to litigation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Refusal to cooperate with French law enforcement is punishable under the article on obstruction of justice, under which the maximum punishment is three years of imprisonment and a fine of €270,000. If the information concealed from the authorities ultimately allowed a crime to be committed, the sentence increases to five years, and the fine to €450,000. And if Durov’s actions are considered complicity in crimes, the term may be significantly longer, reports Vedomosti.
The Telegram App got a boost from the press coverage of Durov’s arrest and has become the second most downloaded social media app in the US App Store, and global downloads are up 4% worldwide, TechCrunch reports. In App figures’ metrics, which exclude games, Telegram rose from the 18th most popular app in the US to 8th.
The messenger’s popularity has also jumped in France, where the French version also became the most downloaded app in the App Store and the third most popular application overall, reports Vedomosti.
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