Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram, has confirmed leaving France after spending several months in the country due to a criminal investigation into his app’s activities. A French judge had authorized his departure for “several weeks,” but he returned home to Dubai instead. The probe is related to alleged cyber and financial crimes committed on Telegram.
Durov thanked investigative judges and his team for their efforts in demonstrating that Telegram has met its legal obligations, despite facing allegations of allowing extremist content and facilitating hacking activities. He became a French citizen in 2021 but was arrested at Paris airport in August and charged with several violations related to cyber and financial crimes.
Telegram denies being responsible for abuse on its platform, stating it adheres to EU laws and has industry-standard moderation practices. However, the app’s convenience is exploited by hackers and threat actors to spread malicious files and disinformation.
Durov emphasized that Telegram was built to protect activists and ordinary people from corrupt governments and corporations, not to facilitate criminal activity. The app has 950 million monthly active users and allows users to publish news, share videos, and send geographic locations instantly.
The probe into Telegram’s activities follows recent reports of the app being used by extremist groups and cybercriminals as a marketplace for hacking tools and command-and-control servers. Durov will return home to Dubai, where he has been living since 2017 and became a UAE citizen in 2021.
Source: https://therecord.media/telegram-pavel-durov-leaves-france-amid-probe