Telegram Founder Hit With Criminal Charges in France for Users’ Bad Behavior

Prosecutors in Paris charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with multiple crimes related to the messaging app, multiple outlets reported. French prosecutors alleged that Durov, a Russian-born and Dubai-based billionaire, is complicit in criminal activity on the app—which has become one of the most popular social media platforms in post-Soviet Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Prosecutors listed distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, and fraud as examples of the criminal activity carried out on the app. He was charged with enabling criminal transactions—a crime that comes with a possible €500,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison, NBC News reported. He was released on €5 million bail (about $5.5 million USD) earlier on Wednesday, but ordered to remain in French territory and check in with authorities twice per week. Durov was arrested by French authorities at Le Bourget Airport outside of Paris on Saturday as part of a wider probe into criminal activity on Telegram, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement on Monday.

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