Pavel Durov, the billionaire founding father of Telegram, criticized French authorities on Sunday, Aug. 24, over what he described as a baseless felony investigation that has left him tied up in authorized proceedings for greater than a yr.
Durov, who was granted momentary permission to depart the nation for Dubai in March, faces a number of costs linked to allegations that Telegram enabled organized crime. In a press release posted Sunday, he argued that holding a CEO accountable for the actions of customers on a worldwide messaging platform units a harmful precedent.
“Arresting a CEO of a significant platform over the actions of its customers was not solely unprecedented — it was legally and logically absurd,” Durov mentioned.
In keeping with Durov, French police made “a mistake” by failing to observe correct authorized channels earlier than August 2024 when submitting requests for consumer knowledge. He mentioned the corporate has persistently responded to each legally binding request and maintains moderation practices consistent with trade requirements.
Durov mentioned he’s nonetheless required to return to France each 14 days, with no enchantment date set.
“Sadly, the one end result of my arrest up to now has been large harm to France’s picture as a free nation,” he mentioned.
The case towards Durov highlights the rising rigidity between regulation enforcement and tech platforms over duty for on-line content material, notably as governments worldwide intensify their scrutiny of social media and messaging providers.
This isn’t the primary time Durov has criticized French authorities.
In September, he responded to his authorized troubles in France by criticizing authorities for bypassing official EU channels and questioning him instantly. He known as holding a CEO answerable for consumer crimes a “misguided strategy,” particularly beneath outdated legal guidelines.
Durov defended Telegram’s moderation efforts, noting its day by day removing of dangerous content material and cooperation with NGOs, whereas reaffirming his dedication to the platform’s almost one billion customers.
Because the case continues, questions stay over whether or not the authorized battles will have an effect on Telegram’s operations or the worth of its crypto initiatives.
How TON powers Telegram’s blockchain imaginative and prescient
Toncoin (TON), the digital token linked to Telegram’s Telegram Open Community (TON), is presently down 6.4% during the last seven days. See the chart beneath.
The TON token, presently valued at $3.30, is down 60% from its all-time excessive of $8.25. Nonetheless, the coin is taken into account an integral a part of Telegram’s blockchain initiatives.
Initially created by Telegram and now maintained by the TON Basis, the token is designed to share, as Durov as soon as put it, “the rules of decentralization pioneered by Bitcoin and Ethereum, however… vastly superior to them in velocity and scalability.”
At its core, TON powers peer-to-peer funds. Customers can switch funds shortly and at minimal price, a function that dovetails with the platform’s push to combine TON instantly into its messaging app. Inside chats, customers can already ship the token to buddies, tip creators, or pay for providers, highlighting Telegram’s position as a ready-made distribution channel for crypto adoption.
Past funds, it additionally secures the proof-of-stake community by way of validator staking, helps DeFi apps, NFT marketplaces, and video games, and powers providers like TON DNS and decentralized storage.
Telegram’s consumer base is roughly 1 billion month-to-month lively customers as of July 2025.
