Telegram says arrested CEO Pavel Durov has ‘nothing to hide’

Telegram stated Mr Durov travels in Europe often and added that it abides by European Union legal guidelines, together with the Digital Companies Act, , exteriorwhich goals to make sure a secure and accountable on-line setting.

“Nearly a billion customers globally use Telegram as technique of communication and as a supply of significant data,” the app’s assertion learn.

“We’re awaiting a immediate decision of this example. Telegram is with you all.”

Judicial sources quoted by AFP information company say Mr Durov’s detention was prolonged on Sunday and will final so long as 96 hours.

Pavel Durov, 39, was born in Russia and now lives in Dubai, the place Telegram relies. He holds citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.

Telegram is especially standard in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states.

The app was banned in Russia in 2018, after a earlier refusal by him at hand over consumer information. The ban was reversed in 2021.

Telegram is ranked as one of many main social media platforms after Fb, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.

Mr Durov based Telegram in 2013. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to adjust to authorities calls for to close down opposition communities on his VKontakte social media platform, which he bought.

Russia nonetheless regards Mr Durov as a Russian citizen. Its international ministry stated the Russian embassy to France had “instantly taken the steps required in such circumstances to make clear the scenario across the Russian citizen, regardless of not having obtained a request from the businessman’s representatives”.

Then embassy itself stated it was searching for to “make clear the explanations for the detention and to supply for the safety of Mr Durov’s rights and facilitate consular entry”.

It added that the French authorities had not been co-operating with Russian officers.

Russian international ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram asking whether or not Western human rights NGOs can be silent on Mr Durov’s arrest, after they criticised Russia’s choice to “create obstacles” to the work of Telegram in Russia in 2018.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated it was proper to attend and see what the official accusations in opposition to Mr Durov have been – if any – earlier than commenting additional, as Russia stays not sure what he was arrested for.

Telegram permits teams of as much as 200,000 members, which critics have argued makes it simpler for misinformation to unfold, and for customers to share conspiracist, neo-Nazi, paedophilic, or terror-related content material.

Within the UK, the app was scrutinised for internet hosting far-right channels that have been instrumental in organising the violent dysfunction in English cities earlier this month.

Telegram did take away some teams, however general its system of moderating extremist and unlawful content material is considerably weaker than that of different social media corporations and messenger apps, say cybersecurity consultants.