France hands Telegram CEO Pavel Durov preliminary charges

French judges have issued preliminary charges against Telegram CEO Pavel Durov for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app.

Authorities have barred him from leaving France pending further investigation. Durov is both a Russian and French citizen. 

Durov transferred to court for questioning after being released from police custody

Durov's charges came after he was released from police custody and transferred to a court for more questioning earlier Wednesday.

Placing Durov under formal investigation does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial.

It means that authorities think there's enough to the case to place him under judicial supervision.

Authorities have ordered him to pay €5 million ($5.56 million) bail and to report to a police station twice a week, according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Durov placed under formal investigation 

Authorities opened a formal investigation into Durov on suspicion of insufficient cooperation with authorities regarding criminal investigations and aiding and abetting criminal offenses on his messaging app, among other things, the Paris public prosecutor's office said.

David-Olivier Kaminski, a lawyer for Durov, was quoted by French media as saying "it's totally absurd to think that the person in charge of a social network could be implicated in criminal acts that don't concern him, directly or indirectly."

Prosecutors said that Durov is, "at this stage, the only person implicated in this case." 

Telegram's strong end-to-end encryption has made it one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. It is also controversial because limited oversight has also turned into a hotbed for cyber criminals.

Durov arrested at a Paris airport

The 39-year-old was arrested at a Paris airport on Saturday on a warrant related to Telegram's lack of content moderation.

He was being investigated on charges relating to a number of crimes, including allegations that his platform was complicit in aiding drug trafficking, fraud and child abuse. 

Upon being arrested, the Telegram boss was placed in custody for 96 hours, the maximum amount of time someone can be held under French law before being charged.

Durov's arrest stirs debate over free speech online

Durov’s arrest in France has caused outrage in Russia, with some government officials calling it politically motivated and proof of the West’s double standard on freedom of speech. 

French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week that Durov’s arrest wasn’t a political move but part of an independent investigation.

Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which focuses on digital rights, told DW that it was impossible to adjudge whether the arrest was an attack on free speech as yet.

Numerous allegations and classes of criminal activity have been outlined against the Telegram billionaire, she said, adding that no one has pointed to anything concrete yet.

She said she is skeptical when governments say that social media platforms are failing to go after criminals because governments have very different ideas of "who does and does not qualify as a criminal."

rm/wd (Reuters, AP)