Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 8 just came out and you can already save $50

    August 2, 2025

    The enforcer that could break up Apple and Google is facing upheaval

    August 2, 2025

    A ‘Grand Unified Theory’ of Math Just Got a Little Bit Closer

    August 2, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » Inside the Bust That Took Down Pavel Durov—and Upended Telegram
    Business

    Inside the Bust That Took Down Pavel Durov—and Upended Telegram

    News RoomBy News RoomFebruary 4, 20254 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    As Maillochon and other French journalists went on to report, prosecutors had been secretly investigating Durov for months over his and Telegram’s alleged failure to block illegal activity—which authorities claim included fraud, drug trafficking, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), organized crime, and terrorism—on the platform. The French Gendarmerie alone had counted 2,460 cases between 2013 and 2024 in which legal requests made to Telegram had gone unanswered, according to the outlet Libération. Maylis de Roeck, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, told WIRED that when her team realized just how many investigations across different departments were being stymied by Telegram’s lack of response, they decided to issue an arrest warrant. As they saw it, Durov’s silence amounted to complicity.

    In the immediate aftermath of the arrest, no one from Telegram commented publicly. One of Durov’s close associates, George Lobushkin—the former head of PR at VKontakte—told WIRED: “I am in shock, and everyone close to Pavel feels the same. Nobody was prepared for this situation.” Lobushkin added that he worried “a lot” about Telegram’s future if Durov remained in custody.

    The case against Durov came at a moment when his professed libertarian ideals and laissez-faire attitude to content moderation seemed to be ascendant.

    In the US, one of the first to react to the arrest was Tucker Carlson, the right-wing TV host. In a post on X, Carlson called Durov “a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies.” Elon Musk reposted a clip from Carlson’s interview and captioned it “#FreePavel.” Even Edward Snowden, a stern critic of Telegram’s security claims, expressed alarm. “I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications,” he wrote on X. Macron, for his part, issued a statement that France was “deeply committed to freedom of expression,” adding of the arrest: “It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”

    On the Sunday evening after Durov’s arrest, his custody was extended to the 96-hour limit. According to Maillochon’s sources, he slept in a cramped cell, although investigators made the rare concession of letting Durov have a fresh set of clothes delivered. Under further questioning, Durov reportedly claimed he hadn’t been unresponsive to takedown requests from law enforcement; police had merely sent their requests to the wrong place. (Durov made a similar claim in 2022 when Brazil’s supreme court temporarily banned Telegram, essentially saying the court’s legal requests had been lost in the mail.) Durov also said he had been in touch with French intelligence services about terrorism cases.

    On August 28, nearly four days after his arrest, Durov was formally indicted on six charges. The most serious—complicity in the administration of an online platform to enable organized crime and illicit transactions—carried a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, as well as a €500,000 ($521,000) fine. With bail set at €5 million ($5.2 million) and swiftly paid, Durov was released that night but prohibited from leaving the country. He was also ordered to report to a police station twice a week.

    The case against Durov, the CEO of a huge mainstream platform, was unprecedented. And it came at a moment when his professed libertarian ideals and laissez-faire attitude to content moderation seemed to be ascendant. The small size of Durov’s team had actually inspired Musk to fire 80 percent of Twitter’s staff when he took it over, according to Character Limit, a book by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac. Musk gutted the company’s moderation and trust-and-safety teams. If Durov could run a platform with about 60 full-time employees, most of them in Dubai, why not try something similar? More recently, Mark Zuckerberg fired Meta’s fact-checkers in the US and loosened the enforcement of rules against inflammatory content on the company’s platforms. The “recent elections,” Zuckerberg said, were a “cultural tipping point toward once again prioritizing speech.”

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleThis 4K projector’s periscope arm lets you install it almost anywhere
    Next Article Instagram’s Threads: all the updates on the new Twitter competitor

    Related Posts

    Donald Trump’s New Crypto Bible Is Everything the Industry Ever Wanted

    August 1, 2025

    Inside the Summit Where China Pitched Its AI Agenda to the World

    August 1, 2025

    The Inside Story of Eric Trump’s American Bitcoin

    August 1, 2025

    Everything You Wanted to Know About China’s Auto Industry Takeover

    July 31, 2025

    Trump Ends Tariff Exemption for Small Packages

    July 31, 2025

    US Senator Urges DHS to Probe Whether Agents Were Moved From Criminal Cases to Deportations

    July 31, 2025
    Our Picks

    The enforcer that could break up Apple and Google is facing upheaval

    August 2, 2025

    A ‘Grand Unified Theory’ of Math Just Got a Little Bit Closer

    August 2, 2025

    Tesla Found Partly Liable in 2019 Autopilot Death

    August 2, 2025

    I tried ‘Bricking’ my phone to fix my brain

    August 2, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    Security

    The FBI’s Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Had Nearly 3 Minutes Cut Out

    By News RoomAugust 2, 2025

    Newly uncovered metadata reveals that nearly three minutes of footage were cut from what the…

    A Premium Luggage Service’s Web Bugs Exposed the Travel Plans of Every User—Including Diplomats

    August 2, 2025

    Watch Our Livestream Replay: Inside Katie Drummond’s Viral Interview With Bryan Johnson

    August 2, 2025

    Vivobarefoot’s Sensus Shoes Are Like Gloves for Your Feet

    August 2, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.