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After spending four days in police custody , the founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram , Pavel Durov , was put under courtly investigation in France on Thursday for a wide mountain range of reprehensible kick .
He was give up from hands on the condition that he does not pass on French territory during the probe . Bail was set at € 5 million ( around $ 5.6 million ) and he must hold in at a police post doubly a week .
On Tuesday , the motor lodge in charge of the probe — the Paris vicious motor lodge — shareda list of chargesthat chair toDurov ’s arreston August 24 after he stepped off his individual jet at France ’s Le Bourget Airport .
The master cathexis are accusation of running a company that has been complicit in lay in and diffuse child intimate revilement textile ( CSAM ) and facilitate drug trafficking and orchestrate fraud and other illegal transactions . He ’s also facing bursting charge touch on adjustment of Telegram ’s cryptographical feature , among other criminal complaints .
In astatement , Paris prosecuting officer Laure Beccuau confirmed all the flush and enunciate the investigation is actuate forward . The fact that Durov is being placed under formal probe mean he is officially suspected of what he ’s been accused of .
In the French judicial system , being placed under stately probe is a necessary procedural dance step so as to take a lawsuit to trial . However , it does not mean a trial is certain . If authority decide they do n’t have a strong enough case , the investigating could be shelve before it gets to Margaret Court . But the step means there ’s a substantial reason to pursue a probe .
The prosecuting attorney ’s argument ( which we ’ve interpret from French ) summarizes why Durov end up in police force custody , with Beccuau writing that Telegram “ come out in multiple case involve various offenses ( child porn , trafficking , on-line hate speech ) . ”
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“ Telegram ’s almost total unsuccessful person to answer to judicial requests was bring to the attention of the cybercrime part ( J3 ) of the organized crime national court ( JUNALCO ) within the Paris public prosecutor ’s office , in particular by the national office for minors ( OFMIN ) , ” she also publish .
“ When consulted , other French investigation department and public prosecutors ’ offices , as well as various Eurojust partners , notably Belgian , share the same observation . This led JUNALCO to open an probe into the potential criminal responsibility of the executives of this messaging service in these offenses , ” Beccuau add .
Subsequent to this — back in February 2024 — the Paris court opened a preliminary investigating and put OFMIN in flush of the probe . The Centre for the Fight against Cybercrime ( C3N ) and the Anti - Fraud National Office ( ONAF ) later took over the probe .
This account appears to confirm cover byPoliticothat said Durov ’s problems started with a disjoined investigating focused on nestling sex abuse . accord to Politico newsman , who were able to consult documents from that probe , a suspect told investigator they used Telegram to entice underaged girls into sending “ self - produced child erotica . ” They then threatened to release the CSAM on societal medium .
It also reported that as part of this slip , French authorities send a request to Telegram to identify the suspect . But the company ignore the request — leading to a preliminary investigation into its unwillingness to cooperate with police force enforcement on a condemnable issue .
Telegram did not respond to a request for gossip about Durov ’s stoppage and the charges he ’s present .
Lack of content moderation
While the case against Telegram was sparked by a CSAM probe , it became more substantial during the preliminary investigating as Gallic authorities start looking into the messaging app ’s activities more broadly .
Telegram currently has950 million monthly alive usersand few moderation tools and appendage . In an audience with Tucker Carlson , Durov claimedonly 30 engineers function on the social app . So , in addition to the company ’s unwillingness to collaborate with law enforcement authorities , the Paris court is fundamentally claiming Telegram ’s ( want of ) moderation turn on the sharing of CSAM , drug trafficking and fraudulent activities to take place on the platform .
“ It is completely absurd to claim that the headspring of a societal chopine could be responsible for for criminal acts that do n’t demand him , either directly or indirectly , ” David - Olivier Kaminski , a lawyer working for Durov , told reporters on Wednesday dark local time , perLe Monde .
But that line of Defense Department does n’t explain why Telegram ignored the law enforcement postulation in the first place .
Moreover , Durov is also being charged with money laundering . This could be related to Telegram ’s cryptocurrency - associate features and miscarry to follow “ recognise your customer ” requirements .
Telegram has a digital up-to-dateness call asterisk that can be used to buy digital substance from other user . Stars can also be exchange to Toncoin , a cryptocurrency back by Telegram that can be merchandise onvarious crypto exchangesand transferred to a bank story .
As this is a wide - range fount , the probe is probable to last several month at least . It could even take more than a year . Durov will be expected to remain in France for the duration .
