French authorities have allowed Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO and founder, to briefly depart the nation whereas legal exercise on the messaging platform continues to be beneath investigation.
Earlier immediately, Durov revealed in a Telegram put up that he had returned to Dubai after reportedly leaving France from Le Bourget Airport outdoors Paris.
An official on the Paris prosecutor’s workplace advised Bloomberg that the judicial order limiting Durov from touring outdoors France through the Telegram legal investigation was suspended between March 15 and April 7.
“As you will have heard, I’ve returned to Dubai after spending a number of months in France attributable to an investigation associated to the exercise of criminals on Telegram. The method is ongoing, nevertheless it feels nice to be dwelling,” he mentioned.
“I need to thank the investigative judges for letting this occur, in addition to my attorneys and group for his or her relentless efforts in demonstrating that, on the subject of moderation, cooperation, and combating crime, for years Telegram not solely met however exceeded its authorized obligations.”
Durov was arrested in France at Le Bourget Airport close to Paris in late August 2024 in reference to an investigation into Telegram’s use for fraud, drug trafficking, and unlawful content material distribution.
Days later, he was launched on bail set at €5 million (roughly $5.6 million), however he was instructed to not depart the nation as a result of French authorities have been nonetheless investigating him.
One month after Durov’s arrest, Telegram introduced that it began sharing customers’ cellphone numbers and IP addresses with legislation enforcement in the event that they violated the platform’s guidelines following legitimate authorized requests and solely after receiving a legitimate court docket order confirming that the person is a suspect in a legal case that breaches the platform’s Phrases of Service.
Earlier than the September announcement, Telegram’s coverage restricted delicate person data sharing to circumstances involving terror suspects. Telegram’s CEO additionally mentioned the platform improved its search characteristic (recognized for widespread abuse to promote and promote unlawful items) to take away problematic content material.
“These measures ought to discourage criminals. Telegram Search is supposed for locating pals and discovering information, not for selling unlawful items,” Durov mentioned. “We cannot let unhealthy actors jeopardize the integrity of our platform for nearly a billion customers.”
In January, Telegram additionally introduced that it shared the cellphone quantity or IP deal with data of two,253 customers with legislation enforcement after 900 U.S. authorities requests.
As Durov introduced final 12 months, Telegram reached 950 million month-to-month energetic customers in July and 10 million paid subscribers two months later.