{"id":557837,"date":"2024-08-29T08:51:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T06:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=557837"},"modified":"2024-08-29T08:53:13","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T06:53:13","slug":"telegram-ceo-charged-for-crimes-committed-with-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/internet\/557837-telegram-ceo-charged-for-crimes-committed-with-app.html","title":{"rendered":"Telegram CEO charged for crimes committed with app"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pavel Durov, the chief executive officer of Telegram, was charged in France for complicity in the spread of sexual images of children and other crimes such as drug trafficking on the messaging app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charges against Durov paint a picture of a platform almost entirely uncooperative with authorities and include allegations he refused to help agencies run legal wiretaps on suspects, Paris prosecutors said in a Wednesday statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He faces further accusations of enabling organized criminals to carry out unlawful transactions on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 39-year-old was stopped at Le Bourget airport north of Paris on Saturday after disembarking from a private jet and placed in custody for police questioning for four days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors on Wednesday ordered Durov to post \u20ac5 million ($5.6 million) in bail and forbid him from leaving France, according to the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that while Telegram appeared in numerous cases focusing on crimes on minors, drug trafficking or online hate, her teams noted the platform\u2019s \u201cnear complete\u201d lack of response to legal requests for cooperation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar situation was reported by authorities in neighboring countries, including Belgium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what led JUNALCO to open an investigation into the possible criminal responsibility of the messaging app\u2019s executives in the commission of these offenses,\u201d Beccuau said, referring to her unit focusing on organized crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telegram didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement released on Telegram on Sunday, the Dubai-based company asserted that Durov has \u201cnothing to hide\u201d and that the app abides by European laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,\u201d the statement declared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durov\u2019s attitude to regulation helped make Telegram into a giant but also put him at odds with governments for repeatedly ignoring requests to better moderate content on his platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The billionaire has styled himself as a radical libertarian and cultivates a look riffing off of Keanu Reeves\u2019 Neo character in The Matrix<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the pressing of charges is a key point in French probes, a criminal trial \u2014 if any is ordered \u2014 may be several months or even years away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the case progresses, Durov will have an opportunity to challenge investigators\u2019 findings through his legal team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charges, as they stand, appear to include a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pavel Durov, Telegram CEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, was charged in France for complicity in various serious crimes committed in the messaging app.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":557839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[96805,49609,23753],"class_list":["post-557837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","tag-laure-beccuau","tag-pavel-durov","tag-telegram"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557837"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":557873,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557837\/revisions\/557873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}