Following his arrest on Saturday at Bourget International Airport, near Paris, and his pre-trial detention as part of an investigation into various offenses through the application he created, the Telegram platform confirmed yesterday Sunday that its founder, president and CEO Pavel Durov (Pavel Durov), 39, who has French and Russian citizenship, “has nothing to hide”,

“Telegram complies with European Union legislation, including the Digital Services Act, content control complies with industry rules,” the Dubai-based company said on its channel and other websites. social networking.

“Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently to Europe,” he continued. “It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, is responsible for abuses” of the features provided through it, he insisted.

A French judge decided to extend the preventive measure reservation of the billionaire Durov, which can last up to 96 hours maximumlast night, as he faces charges linked to “organized crime”.

After the 96 hours are up, Pavel Durov can either be released freeor to be brought before a judge to be exercised against him penalty trial.

Faced with serious charges and up to 20 years in prison

The French authority responsible for prosecuting crimes against minors, OFMIN, had proceeded to issue a search warrant against Durov, as part of a preliminary investigation into various crimes through Telegram – from fraud to drug trafficking, online harassment, organized crime and even promoting terrorism, according to one of the sources.

According to an AFP source, the investigation involves the electronic crime prosecution service of the national agency for the prosecution of organized crime as well as ONAF, an agency to combat customs fraud, according to agency sources.

With newsgroups sometimes exceeding 200,000 members, the app has been accused of facilitating the spread of fake news, hate speech, neo-Nazi, conspiracy-minded content, and even the activities of pedophile rings and terrorist organizations.

In practice, the French justice accuses Pavel Durov of remaining idle (absence of any control, lack of cooperation with the prosecuting authorities) despite the illegal use of the platform by its subscribers.

“Immunity” in the Emirates – He is a resident of Dubai

In one of the few interviews he has given, Pavel Durov told American TV host Tucker Carlson in Dubai in April that he decided to set up the encrypted messaging service after suffering a lot of pressure from Russian authorities over VK, a social networking site he created back home. before he sold it and left Russia in 2014.

He then tried settling in Berlin, London, Singapore, San Francisco, before finally choosing Dubai, which he praises for its business environment and “neutrality”.

“I think we’re doing well,” Telegram has “900 million users that will probably surpass a billion active users within a year,” he noted.

In the Gulf emirate, Telegram is shielded from other states’ regulations and controls as the European Union and the US put increasing pressure on major social media platforms to delete content they say is illegal.