Pavel Durov's lawyer says the case against Telegram boss is 'absurd'

By Gabriel Stargardter and Ingrid Melander

PARIS (Reuters) -Telegram boss Pavel Durov's lawyer said on Thursday it was "absurd" to suggest he should be held responsible for any crimes committed on the app, amid growing frictions between governments and tech titans over content on their platforms.

France's arrest of Durov - a first for a CEO of a major messaging platform - has sent a warning to social media bosses unwilling to tackle alleged illegality on their apps. It has also plunged French-Russia relations to fresh lows, according to Moscow, where some pro-Kremlin figures have accused Washington of being behind the detention of Russian-born Durov.

A French judge put Durov under formal investigation on Wednesday for suspected complicity in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, child sex abuse images, drug trafficking and fraud.

The 39-year-old entrepreneur, who has French and UAE citizenships too, is also suspected of money laundering and providing encrypted messaging to criminals.

Lawyer David-Olivier Kaminski, who is representing Durov in France, said on Thursday it was "absurd to say that a platform or its boss are responsible for any abuse" carried out on the platform, and that Telegram was abiding by European laws.

Prior to his arrival on Saturday, Durov did not know about the arrest warrant that awaited him in France, a source at the Paris prosecutor's office said.

Some commentators have speculated Durov must have known about the warrant, raising questions about why he did not stay away from France. "He deliberately came to France where he knew he would be arrested. Why?" Gerard Araud, France's former ambassador to the United States, wrote on X.

The source added that the French probe into Durov has no connection with the United States.

PRESIDENT SAYS HE WAS NOT AWARE

French President Emmanuel Macron, who wants to position France as a tech hub, has said Durov's arrest was not politically motivated, and he reiterated this on Thursday.

"I was absolutely unaware of Mr Durov's arrival in France, and that is quite normal," Macron told a news conference in Serbia. "This is an independent action by the French justice system."

The Kremlin said that the prosecution against Durov, whose app has nearly 1 billion users, should not turn into "political persecution."

Durov was granted bail on condition he pays 5 million euros ($5.6 million) and does not leave French territory. He will need to report twice a week to police and be at home at specific hours, a judicial source said.

Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial but indicates judges consider there is enough evidence to proceed with a probe. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or shelved.

This is not the first time Telegram has had a run-in with police and judicial authorities.

In 2022, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes temporarily suspended Telegram in Brazil, saying it had repeatedly refused to adhere to judicial orders.

At the time, Durov blamed any shortcomings on email issues and apologised. He voiced confidence that Telegram would soon be able to "efficiently process takedown requests for public channels that are illegal in Brazil."

Other social media companies are also facing heat from authorities.

In Brazil's latest battle against tech impresarios, Moraes on Wednesday ordered billionaire Elon Musk, who has criticized France's arrest of Durov, to name a legal representative for his messaging platform X in Brazil within 24 hours or face the site's suspension in the country.

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this week that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration had pressured the company to "censor" COVID-19 content during the pandemic, apparently referring to White House requests to take down misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines.

The debate over whether, and how, platforms should be held liable for content rages in many countries including the United States, where lawmakers have called for an overhaul of legislation that gives online services immunity from civil liability over content generated by users.

In Britain, a newly introduced Online Safety Act has introduced the threat of criminal sanctions for senior managers who do not comply with media regulator Ofcom's enforcement notices.

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(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Dominique Vidalon; Additional reporting by Piotr Lipinski, Aleksandar Vasovic, Martin Coulter, Sheila Dang, Alexander Cornwell and Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Helen Popper, William Maclean, Timothy Heritage and Cynthia Osterman)