Durov, who said he was interrogated by police for four days after arriving in Paris, said he was ready to leave countries that were incompatible with Telegram’s principles, including France.
Durov described the French authorities’ claims as “surprising,” saying Telegram was acting legally and had a representative in the EU who responded to requests. “When they asked me a while ago, I personally helped them set up a hotline with Telegram to combat the terrorist threat in France,” Durov wrote.
Durov denied France’s claims that Telegram had not responded to his requests and said it cooperated in the fight against terrorism, but acknowledged that the platform’s growing number of users made it easier to abuse.
Durov said that the accusations targeting him were due to Telegram’s increasing popularity and reaching 950 million users, and that steps would be taken to improve the platform’s security. He also said that if they could not balance privacy and security, Telegram could withdraw from France.
According to Durov, if a country is unhappy with an Internet service, then the established practice is to file a lawsuit against the service, not to accuse the administrator of crimes committed by third parties.
“Sometimes we disagree with a country’s regulator on the right balance between privacy and security. In such cases, we are ready to leave that country. We have done this many times. When Russia demanded that we hand over the ‘encryption keys’ to enable surveillance, we refused, and Telegram was banned in Russia. When Iran demanded that we close channels of peaceful protesters, we refused, and Telegram was banned in Iran,” Pavel Durov gave examples.
Durov also stated that Telegram is ready to leave markets that are not compatible with its principles, adding, “We are not doing this for money.”
According to Politico, French political elites, including President Emmanuel Macron, actively use the Telegram messaging app.
He was released on bail
He was detained when he landed at Le Bourget Airport near Paris on August 24.
Durov, who appeared before a judge after four days of questioning, was charged with six counts, including refusing to provide information to authorities. Durov had previously been questioned by police on 12 other charges.
After the charges were brought, the court decided to release Durov on €5 million bail, but banned him from travelling outside France. He must also attend police stations twice a week to sign in.
