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Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov<\/a> promised to step up efforts to fight criminality on the messaging app, his first public comments since French authorities handed him\u00a0preliminary charges<\/a>\u00a0for allegedly allowing the platform\u2019s use for criminal activity.<\/p>\n In a Telegram post late Thursday<\/a>, Durov defended himself against the French judicial investigation, suggesting that he shouldn\u2019t have been targeted personally.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,\u201d the post said. \u201cBuilding technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.\u201d<\/p>\n While insisting that Telegram is not \u201csome sort of anarchic paradise,\u201d Durov said surging numbers of Telegram users \u201ccaused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We\u2019ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n French investigators\u00a0detained Durov<\/a>\u00a0at Le Bourget airport outside Paris in late August and questioned him for four days as part of a sweeping probe opened earlier this year. Released on 5 million euros bail, Durov has to report to a police station twice a week. Russia-born, he has amassed multiple citizenships, including French.<\/p>\n French allegations against Durov include that Telegram is used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, and that the platform refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.<\/p>\n In his post, Durov said that while in police detention, \u201cI was told I may be personally responsible for other people\u2019s illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn\u2019t receive responses from Telegram.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis was surprising for several reasons,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He said Telegram has an official representative in the European Union who replies to EU requests, with a public email address.<\/p>\n Telegram\u2019s website informs users that they can contact the app through a bot and includes a link to report illegal content. It also includes an email address and phone number for \u201ccompetent authorities of the EU and EU members\u201d to use. \u201cIf you are not a competent EU or EU member authority, your request will not be processed,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n In his post, Durov said \u201cFrench authorities had numerous ways to reach me to request assistance.\u201d He said he also had previously worked with them to \u201cestablish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended reading:<\/strong>
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