What are the details of Pavel Durov's arrest and the allegations against him?
Under an ongoing cyber-crime probe, Pavel Durov, the CEO of the extensively used messaging service Telegram, has been arrested in France. Durov is under detention, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is investigating a variety of offenses linked to organized crime. These accusations cover fraud, child pornography, illegal trade, and information withholding to authorities.
Telegram has severely questioned these assertions, labeling them “absurd.” The business said that it is illogical to make the owner or platform responsible for the abuse of the service.
What is the background of Pavel Durov?
Multi-billionaire Pavel Durov 39 is the creator of VKontakte, a prominent Russian social networking network. Durov fled Russia in 2014 under mounting pressure from the Russian authorities to dissolve opposition groups on VKontakte. He established Telegram a year ago and currently runs the business in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he lives. Russia still recognizes Russia as its citizen even if it is a national of the UAE and France. Telegram also mentioned that Durov goes all around Europe somewhat regularly.
Durov committed himself to freedom of expression in a prominent interview with conservative US media figure Tucker Carlson. “Where we thought it would be crossing the line – it wouldn’t be aligning with our values of freedom of speech and protecting people’s private correspondence – we would ignore some requests from authorities,” he said.
What is Telegram’s role, and what criticisms has it faced?
Complementing heavyweights like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikHub, and WeChat, Telegram is among the most used social networking and messaging tools worldwide. Durov said in July that Telegram had 900 million monthly active members. Apart from pro-democracy movements in Iran and Hong Kong, the platform is particularly well-liked in Russia and Ukraine.
Unlike WhatsApp, which caps group numbers to 1,000 people, Telegram lets up to 200,000 members in one group. With worries that Telegram carries content connected to conspiracies, neo-Nazism, pedophilia, and terrorism, this function has drawn criticism for helping disinformation to proliferate. With cybersecurity experts pointing out that the app’s regulation of extreme and illegal information is considerably less than on other platforms, the app came under fire in the UK for helping to coordinate recent violent disturbances in English cities.
Telegram has responded to these complaints by maintaining that its moderation policies are “within industry standards and constantly improving.” Emphasizing its adherence to European Union rules, mainly the Digital Services Act meant to provide a safer online environment, the platform stressed, ” Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of vital information,” Telegram reminded its subscribers. We expect a quick fix on this matter. Telegram is at your side.
