Telegram chief Durov issues first statement since arrest, calls France's charges surprising' and 'misguided'

Pavel Durov

Telegram chief Pavel Durov issued first comment on Thursday since his arrest blasting France for arresting and charging him last month over publication of extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app. Durov described the charges as surprising and misguided.

In a lengthy post on Telegram,  Durov said it was "surprising" he was being held responsible for other people's content.

"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 said.

Furthermore, Durov lashed out at claims that "Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise" as "absolutely untrue", insisting: "We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day."

He refuted France's claims that Paris had not received responses from Telegram to its requests, stating that he personally assisted French authorities in "establishing a hotline with Telegram to address the threat of terrorism in France."

Durov, 39, was charged after four days under arrest in France on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram.

He has received support from fellow tech tycoon and chief executive of X, Elon Musk, who posted comments under the hashtag #FreePavel.

Durov was arrested on August 24 at Le Bourget airport outside Paris after arriving aboard a private jet and questioned in the subsequent days by investigators.

He was granted conditional release on a bail of five million euros ($5.5 million) and on the condition that he must report to a police station twice a week as well as remaining in France.