KEY POINTS
- The platform now allows users to report 'illegal' content and can also request for 'automated takedown'
- Durov broke his silence Thursday about his arrest, saying it was "surprising"
- He said Telegram was ready to leave a country when it can't agree with a regulator's stance on balancing security and privacy
- Durov is out on bail but cannot leave France and is mandated to report to French police twice a week
- The #DigitalResistance campaign by the TON community has gained nearly 7 million signatures
Telegram, a social media and messaging platform widely used by cryptocurrency users and crypto firms for communication, has updated its FAQ page to remove language that states it doesn't process requests related to chats and group chats – news about the updates came as its CEO spoke out for the first time about his arrest in France last month.
Pavel Durov was arrested in an airport near France over what French President Emmanuel Macron said was an ongoing judicial investigation. The Paris prosecutor's office later revealed multiple charges against the tech executive over his alleged failure to prevent criminal activity within the platform.
Durov's arrest drove the price of Toncoin (TON) down. He co-founded the first iteration of The Open Network (TON) blockchain with his brother. TON is integrated with Telegram, and the platform allows apps to integrate various tokens.
Telegram Now Allows Reporting of Private Chats, Moderators
Before Durov's arrest, the Telegram FAQ page stated that "all Telegram chats and groups are private amongst their participants" and the platform does not process any requests related to such chats and groups.
Telegram quietly updates FAQ, removing:
— db (@tier10k) September 6, 2024
"All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them." pic.twitter.com/ajWOOBAAB5
The FAQ page now allows users to report "illegal content" on the platform, as per screenshots posted on X. Notably, among the charges filed against Durov in France was related to his alleged failure to prevent the "dissemination in an organized group of images of minors in child p***ography."
Users can now request for "automated takedown" of illegal content on the platform, and the FAQ also provided an account where users can report a scammer pretending to be them. It is unclear whether the changes implemented by Telegram will affect its process of responding to law enforcement requests for information.
Durov Speaks Out Over Arrest
News about Telegram's FAQ page update emerged at around the same time Durov, for the first time, addressed his arrest in France. He wrote Thursday about how he was interviewed by French police for four days after arriving in Paris.
"I was told I may be personally responsible for other people's illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn't receive responses from Telegram," he wrote. He said the basis of his arrest was "surprising."
He said the messaging platform has an official representative in the European Union that can provide responses to requests from within the bloc. He said France had "numerous ways" to reach him since he is a French citizen. Durov holds three other passports.
He went on to seemingly call out France over the process of his arrest. "Using 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," he argued.
Durov conceded that there are times when Telegram cannot agree with a certain country's regulator on matters involving privacy and security. "In those cases, we are ready to leave that country," he noted, citing how Russia banned the platform after Telegram refused to hand over encryption keys for surveillance.
"No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools," he wrote.
Durov has been released on a $5 million bail, but he is not allowed to leave France and is required to report to French police twice a week.
TON Society Pushes #DigitalResistance Campaign
Meanwhile, the TON Society, the community around the TON blockchain, continues to drive its #DigitalResistance campaign focused on raising awareness about Durov's case in hopes of pressuring the France to let Durov go.
#DigitalResistance will prevail! 💎✊ pic.twitter.com/qBj6YiFyph
— TON Society 🆓 (@ton_society) September 4, 2024
The campaign encourages crypto and blockchain enthusiasts to use #FREEDUROV when sharing about an open letter to the French government that seeks "complete" freedom for the blockchain pioneer. The letter has received nearly seven million signatures as of early Friday.
