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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov denies platform is an anarchic paradise

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov denies platform is an anarchic paradise

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Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, was forced into exile in Dubai in 2014 after the Russian government took over VKontakte, a social network he had created. Durov has expressed surprise at being held responsible for other people's content on Telegram, stating that using outdated laws to regulate the platform is a misguided approach. In 2024, Durov was detained in France as part of an investigation into Telegram's alleged lack of content moderation, with French authorities questioning him about the platform's role in facilitating crimes.

Telegram
1. All Telegram apps have 'Report' buttons that let you flag illegal content for our moderators—in just a few taps.
2. If you are not a competent EU or EU member authority, your request will not be processed.
Pavel Durov
Telegram
1. Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.
2. That's why this year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise.
3. We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated. All of that does not mean Telegram is perfect.
4. Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach.
5. I hope that the events of August will result in making Telegram -- and the social networking industry as a whole -- safer and stronger.
6. As a platform, you want your processes to be consistent globally, while also ensuring they are not abused in countries with weak rule of law. We've been committed to engaging with regulators to find the right balance.
7. If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself.
8. Telegram's abrupt increase in user count to 950 [million] caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.
9. That's why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We've already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon.
10. The claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue. We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day.
11. Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. I was told I may be personally responsible for other people's illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn't receive responses from Telegram.
12. While 99.999 percent of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001 percent involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk.
13. French authorities had numerous ways to reach me to request assistance.
14. I'm still trying to understand what happened in France.