Founder, Telegram Charged By French Govt

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, has been charged by French authorities with crimes related to illicit activity on the messaging app.
communications tool Telegram, was charged on Wednesday in France with a wide range of crimes related to illicit activity on the app and barred from leaving the country. It was a rare move by legal authorities to hold a top technology executive personally liable for the behavior of users on a major messaging platform.
Mr. Durov, 39, who was detained by French authorities on Saturday, was placed under formal investigation on a range of charges, including complicity in managing an online platform to enable illegal transactions and a refusal to cooperate with law enforcement, Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor, said in a statement.
Telegram has appeared in multiple criminal cases tied to child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and online hate crimes, but has shown a “near-total absence” of replies to requests for cooperation from Paris prosecutors, Ms. Beccuau said.
Other prosecutors around France, as well as legal authorities in other European countries, “have shared the same observation,” she said.
Ms. Beccuau said that Mr. Durov has been ordered to pay bail of 5 million euros, or about $5.5 million, and was released but must check in at a police station twice a week.
Mr. Durov’s arrest has become a focus of the debate about free speech on the internet. President Emmanuel Macron of France on Monday dismissed accusations that the arrest was an example of government censorship.
Telegram, which Mr. Durov founded in Russia in 2013, now has more than 900 million users. Light oversight of content on the platform has helped people living under authoritarian governments to communicate, but has also made the app a haven for harmful content.
A Russian national, Mr. Durov left Russia in 2014 and Telegram is now based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mr. Durov also has citizenship in France and the U.A.E., according to Telegram.
Telegram has long been on the radar of law enforcement agencies because terrorist organizations, drug sellers, weapons dealers and far-right extremist groups have used it for communicating, recruiting and organizing.
Historically, companies have more commonly been held responsible for a platform’s transgressions, rather than individuals. But tech companies are paying close attention to the legal liability that their executives face as law enforcement agencies, regulators and policymakers ramp up scrutiny of online platforms and exchanges.