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When Pavel Durov , laminitis and CEO of message app Telegram , wasarrested on August 24 , French authority did not respond to requests for comment . The secrecy of pre - trial investigations and inquiries is an important principle in the French discriminative organisation .
Gallic television meshing TF1reportedthat the chief issues are Telegram ’s ( deficiency of ) relief processes and unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement , especially when it come to drug trafficking , money laundering and child sexual abuse material ( CSAM ) .
But the tribunal in bearing of the probe , the Paris vicious court , probably did n’t require to pull together so much aid and speculation . The billionaire owner of X , Elon Musk , posted“#FreePavel ” on his own social networking political program . Edward Snowden — the NSA whistleblower and privacy campaigner — impliedDurov ’s arrest was a political decision taken by French president Emmanuel Macron .
Given that Telegram is the most popular societal app in Russia and Ukraine , it alsobecamea hot topic for both Russian assurance and the Russian opposition .
The publicity genus Circus accompanying the stoppage explains why the court decide toshare a pressure releaselisting the charges against Durov . grant to this written document , the Paris Public Prosecutor ’s Office open up a preliminary investigation against Durov on July 8 related to efforts to combat cybercrime .
The Centre for the Fight against Cybercrime ( C3N ) and the Anti - Fraud National Office ( ONAF ) have been involved in the investigation . In all , 12 charge have been filed against “ a person unidentified ” — a classic Gallic juridic term to imply whoever is in billing of Telegram right now .
The explosive charge can be broken down into four categories :
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The charge are both broad and technical at the same prison term . It ’s also grueling to screw exactly their foundation without access to the full investigation .
The charges related to CSAM contentedness , drug trafficking and fraud are likely have-to doe with to Telegram ’s temperance processes . As a reminder , Telegram currently has950 million monthly active usersand few moderation tools and process . In an consultation with Tucker Carlson , Durov mentioned thatthere are only 30 engineers work on the societal app .
As for the money - launder heraldic bearing , Telegram added a digital currentness , calledStars , last month . This up-to-dateness can be used to buy digital content from other users . But Stars can also be converted to Toncoin , the cryptocurrency Telegram uses for various paid feature .
Telegram also has a built - in crypto pocketbook and Toncoins can be swop onvarious crypto exchangesand transferred to a money box history .
base on today ’s charges , it may be investigators suspect Telegram of fail to pursue “ know your customer ” requirements in relation to some of its crypto - related feature , which could have facilitated money laundering .
A 6th charge on the prosecutor ’s list is particularly hard to decipher . “ Complicity — offering , selling or making available , without logical reason , equipment , peter , programs or data designed for or adjust to get access to and to damage the operation of an automatise data processing system , ” Prosecutor Laure Beccuau wrote .
There ’s one thing we acknowledge for indisputable in light of this lean of charge — Durov was arrested due to a criminal investigation .
His apprehension was not associate to the European Union ’s Digital Services Act ( DSA ) or other technical school - specific regulation . Enforcement of the EU ’s online brass rules could not conduct to a platform possessor being arrested . ( Note : Musk’sX has been under DSA investigation since Decemberand there ’s no menace of the tech mogul being taken into custody if his jet puts wheels down on EU soil . )
Macron has also stated on the record that Durov ’s arrest was not a political move . In apost on Xon Monday , the Gallic president stressed that the judiciary system remains self-governing from the executive power in France .
“ It is up to the judiciary , in full independence , to apply the law , ” Macron wrote . “ The hitch of the president of Telegram on French filth demand lieu as part of an ongoing judicial investigation . It is in no way a political determination . It is up to the judge to rule on the thing . ”
So what ’s next for Durov ? Gallic regime can detain and interview the Telegram founder for up to 96 hour — and that deadline is do up fast . After that , the court has to resolve whether he will be officially indicted for some or all of the charges mentioned above .
If the latter , the motor inn will also make a decision on whether he has to ride out in custody as a preventative measuring .
Given that Durov normally last in Dubai , sustain multiple passport and owns a secret fountain , they could make up one’s mind there ’s a substantive risk he ’ll seek to fly the country and decide to detain him while a guinea pig proceeds .
