Telegram CEO Durov broke his silence: First statement after detention

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was detained in Paris and released four days later, broke his silence. Durov stated that he was surprised by this development.

Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov spoke for the first time after four days of detention and release in Paris.

In the message he shared on the Telegram channel, Durov stated that he was questioned by the police in Paris for four days and that French authorities tried to hold him responsible for the illegal use of Telegram. Stating that he was surprised by this development, Durov emphasized that Telegram has an official representative in the European Union and that there are many ways that the authorities can reach it. Durov wrote:

“The French authorities had many options to reach me. As a French citizen, I was in regular contact with the French consulate in Dubai and personally helped establish a hotline with Telegram to fight terrorism in France.”

Durov argued that it was a wrong approach to accuse a CEO of crimes committed by third parties on the platform he runs by implementing pre-smartphone laws. In the continuation, “It is already difficult to develop technology. Innovators will not develop new technologies if they are personally held accountable for their possible abuse," he said.

Durov stated that Telegram has a firm stance on maintaining the balance of privacy and security, and reminded that they have withdrawn from these countries as a result of disagreements with governments in Russia and Iran in the past:

“When Russia asked us to deliver the passwords, we denied it and Telegram was banned. In the same way, when they asked us to block the channels of peaceful protesters in Iran, we rejected it. We are always ready to withdraw from markets that do not comply with our principles.”