The billionaire owner of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been charged with allowing criminal activity on his message app and barred from leaving France pending further investigation.
The 39-year-old billionaire was detained last Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a sweeping judicial inquiry which opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations.
He was released on Wednesday, August, 28, after four days of questioning.
Investigative judges filed the preliminary charges on Wednesday night and ordered him to pay 5 million euros bail and to report to a police station twice a week.
Allegations against the Russia-born Durov, who is a French citizen, include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking and that Telegram refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.
Durov’s arrest in France has caused outrage in Russia, with some government officials calling it politically motivated and proof of the West’s double standard on freedom of speech.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Durov’s arrest wasn’t a political move but part of an independent investigation.
Macron posted on X that his country ‘is deeply committed’ to freedom of expression but ‘freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.’
In a statement posted on its platform after Durov’s arrest, Telegram said it abides by EU laws, and its moderation is ‘within industry standards and constantly improving.’
‘It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform,’ Telegram’s post said.
‘Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.’
In addition to Russia and France, Durov is also a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The UAE Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it was ‘closely following the case’ and had asked France to provide Durov ‘with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner.’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped that Durov ‘has all the necessary opportunities for his legal defence’ and added that Moscow stands ‘ready to provide all necessary assistance and support’ to the Telegram CEO as a Russian citizen.
‘But the situation is complicated by the fact that he is also a citizen of France,’ Peskov said.
