Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, said on Sunday he had refused a request by a Western country, which he did not name, to 'silence' conservative voices in Romania, which was holding a presidential election run-off.
"A Western European government... approached Telegram, asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today's presidential elections. I flatly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedoms of Romanian users or block their political channels," Pavel Durov wrote on Telegram, accompanying his post with an emoji of baguette which might hint at France.
40-year-old Durov was arrested at an airport near Paris last August and subsequently placed under formal investigation, with a ban on leaving France. In March, he returned to Dubai.
Durov was facing a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He was also charged with complicity in crimes such as enabling the distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud and refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Durov has criticized French authorities for the arrest, saying he cannot be held personally responsible for what users post on Telegram. But the company has made several changes since August to more aggressively police its platform and to be more cooperative with law enforcement agencies around the world.
Telegram, which Durov founded in 2013, says it has more than 1 billion users. Its sparse oversight of user-generated content has made it popular among people living under authoritarian governments, but the lax supervision has also allowed hateful rhetoric and harmful content to fester.
Durov is among a small but growing list of high-level tech figures who have been accused of crimes committed by users of their platforms, including Ross W. Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road virtual black market, and Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, who pleaded guilty last year to U.S. money-laundering violations that took place on his cryptocurrency platform.
Q1. Who is founder of Telegram?
A1. Founder of Telegram is Pavel Durov.
Q2. When was Telegram founded?
A2. Telegram was founded in 2013.
"A Western European government... approached Telegram, asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today's presidential elections. I flatly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedoms of Romanian users or block their political channels," Pavel Durov wrote on Telegram, accompanying his post with an emoji of baguette which might hint at France.
40-year-old Durov was arrested at an airport near Paris last August and subsequently placed under formal investigation, with a ban on leaving France. In March, he returned to Dubai.
Durov was facing a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He was also charged with complicity in crimes such as enabling the distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud and refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Durov has criticized French authorities for the arrest, saying he cannot be held personally responsible for what users post on Telegram. But the company has made several changes since August to more aggressively police its platform and to be more cooperative with law enforcement agencies around the world.
Telegram, which Durov founded in 2013, says it has more than 1 billion users. Its sparse oversight of user-generated content has made it popular among people living under authoritarian governments, but the lax supervision has also allowed hateful rhetoric and harmful content to fester.
Durov is among a small but growing list of high-level tech figures who have been accused of crimes committed by users of their platforms, including Ross W. Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road virtual black market, and Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, who pleaded guilty last year to U.S. money-laundering violations that took place on his cryptocurrency platform.
FAQs
Q1. Who is founder of Telegram?
A1. Founder of Telegram is Pavel Durov.
Q2. When was Telegram founded?
A2. Telegram was founded in 2013.
