Media Claims That Telegram is 'Anarchic Paradise' Are Untrue: Pavel Durov
10:10 06.09.2024 (Updated: 11:13 06.09.2024)
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian-born tech entrepreneur was detained at Paris airport on August 24 on charges related to criminal uses of his messaging app, including terrorism, child pornography, drug trafficking, money laundering and fraud. He was released on August 28 on 5-million-euro bail and is barred from leaving France.
Media claims that Telegram is "anarchic paradise" are untrue, the platform's founder, Pavel Durov, said.
"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. We publish daily transparency reports... We have direct hotlines with NGOs to process urgent moderation requests faster," Durov said in his Telegram channel.
The Telegram founder said his messenger app adheres to its mission to protect its users but always remains open to dialogue with the authorities.
"We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated," he also said.
Furthermore, if any country is unhappy with services like Telegram, it should sue the service, Durov said.
"If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself. 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," he wrote.
He said no innovator would build his tools if he knew he could be held responsible for any future abuse.
"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," Durov said.
At the end of his message, Durov thanked everyone who supported him.
"Thanks again for your love and memes," he wrote.
