Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Indicted on ‘Complicity,’ Refusal to Communicate Charges in French Court

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was indicted Wednesday evening in a French court, days after the head of the popular social-media and messaging platform’s arrest on Saturday at an airport near Paris.

According to a press release published by French authorities late Wednesday, Durov is being charged with being complicit in the administration of an online platform allowing illicit transactions, refusing to comply with police requests for documents or other communications in ongoing investigations, being complicit in the dissemination of child exploitation material and a host of other charges.

He’s also being accused of providing encryption services without embedding controls in Telegram.

“The almost total absence of response from Telegram to the judicial requisitions was brought to the attention of the cybercrime section (J3) of the JUNALCO (National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organised Crime, within the Paris prosecutor’s office), in particular by the OFMIN (National Office for Minors),” the release said when translated from French. “When consulted, other French investigation services and public prosecutors as well as various partners within Eurojust, particularly Belgian ones, shared the same observation. This is what led JUNALCO to open an investigation into the possible criminal liability of the managers of this messaging service in the commission of these offenses.”

The investigation began in February 2024, and an initial indictment was returned on July 8, the release said.

French police said they released him from custody ahead of his court appearance, which led to some confusion – and a brief jump in the price of the TON cryptocurrency linked to Telegram – that he’d been fully freed. In reality, he was just headed to the courthouse.

Wednesday evening’s press release said he had to pay a 5 million euro deposit, report to a French police station at least twice a week and was barred from leaving the country.

Read more: Pavel Durov: The Imperfect Free Speech Hero

“The investigating judge has released Pavel Durov from custody and has had him brought to court for initial questioning and possible indictment,” a spokesperson said in a statement earlier in the day.

Telegram, in a statement published after Durov’s arrest, said it “abides by [European Union] laws” and its practices remain within industry norms.

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram said in its statement.

UPDATE (Aug. 28, 2024, 19:50 UTC): Adds indictment information.

UPDATE (Aug. 28, 20:42): Adds additional detail.