Allegations against Russian-born Pavel Durov include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.
French authorities have handed Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov preliminary charges for allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app, and barred him from leaving France pending further investigation.
Both free-speech advocates and authoritarian governments have spoken out in Durov’s defence since his weekend arrest. In Iran, where Telegram is widely used despite being officially banned after years of protests challenging the country’s Shiite theocracy, Durov’s arrest in France prompted comments from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram’s post said. 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 chief executive as a Russian citizen.
Durov had said authorities demanded that the site take down online communities of Russian opposition activists, and later that it hand over personal data of users who took part in the 2013-2014 popular uprising in Ukraine, which eventually ousted a pro-Kremlin president.The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital space, and Telegram and its pro-privacy rhetoric offered a convenient way for Russians to communicate and share news.
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