Michaela
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has said he still doesn’t know why he was detained by French authorities in August 2024. In a new interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson, he suggested the incident may have been politically motivated and possibly linked to government scrutiny over alleged illicit activity on the messaging app.
In a June 10 YouTube interview, Durov revealed that during his arrest at Le Bourget Airport near Paris last year, French authorities seemed chiefly focused on understanding the inner workings of the cloud-based messaging platform.
Durov noted that Telegram is audited by a Big Four accounting firm, works with major financial institutions, and routinely allocates millions of dollars each quarter to legal compliance in order to remain within the bounds of the law across the 200 countries where it operates.
“So it was very confusing for me to get detained in Paris and learn that Telegram did something wrong or didn’t process some requests,” the Telegram founder stated.
In August 2024, French prosecutors indicted Durov on six counts, including complicity in criminal activity, money laundering, and criminal association. The charges also accused him of failing to respond to official inquiries, offering undeclared crypto services, and enabling the distribution of illicit content through Telegram’s platform, which authorities claim lacks sufficient moderation.
“When I learned more about it, I realized that we did actually nothing wrong,” Durov told Carlson. He asserted that French authorities failed to follow proper legal channels when attempting to obtain information from him or the Telegram platform.
“I’m still trying to find out, to be honest. I’m confused,” Durov said in response to Carlson’s question about the charges and the ongoing restrictions placed on him. “At first, they said, ‘Oh, you failed to respond to our legal requests, and that’s why you’re complicit.’ But first of all, it’s not true that we didn’t respond to legally binding legal requests, and secondly, it’s a very extensive interpretation of complicity even for the French […] legal and judicial system,” he added.
Furthermore, Carlson criticized the actions of French authorities regarding Durov’s detention, specifically noting the treatment of the Telegram founder and stating that officials went “out of their way” to humiliate him.
Durov concurred, explaining that his legal team noted how the prosecutor’s office usually conducts its work discreetly and seldom releases public statements, unlike in his case.
In May, Durov disclosed that he declined requests from an unnamed European Union country to censor political content on Telegram ahead of Romania’s presidential elections. He shared this information in a post on X, using a baguette emoji to subtly indicate the country involved.
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Michaela has no crypto positions and does not hold any crypto assets. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official media and publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
