After Being Arrested by French Police, the Founder of Telegram Spoke Publicly for the First Time: Safer and More Powerful

According to multiple media reports, Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the social media "Telegram" who was previously arrested in France, posted a long article on "Telegram" in the early hours of Friday (6th) local time. This latest statement was his first public statement since his arrest last month.

Durov said he was "surprised" to be responsible for the content posted by others on Telegram. According to Reuters, Durov believed that if the French government found a problem, it should have complained to his company, through the "hotline" he helped to establish, or contacted Telegram's representative to the European Union.

Durov wrote in the long article, "It is wrong to use laws that predate the smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages." Although the "Telegram" platform is not perfect, it also denies the claim that the platform is an "anarchist paradise." "But some media claim that 'Telegram' is some kind of anarchist paradise, which is absolutely not true."

"We delete millions of harmful posts and channels every day." Durov said the surge in Telegram's user base "has caused more and more pain" and made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform. "Hopefully, the events of August will make Telegram - and the entire social network industry - safer and stronger."

Telegram promises to remove South Korean deepfake porn

Based on Durov's public statements, it is not difficult to understand why Telegram, which has previously refused to comply with government regulation, is willing to cooperate with the South Korean police, work hard to delete such illegal content, and apologize for the Deepfake pornographic content on the platform. Telegram cooperated with the Korea Communications Standards Commission to delete 25 Deepfake pornographic videos and provided an email hotline for users to submit deletion requests.

In order to further combat Deepfake pornography, the South Korean government announced that it would increase the maximum sentence for Deepfake pornography from five years to seven years to combat this crime. According to the South Korean police, more than 2,000 people have become victims of Deepfake pornography, most of whom are minors, and it has caused widespread panic in South Korean society.

Deepfake technology uses artificial intelligence to generate highly realistic videos and images, which makes it very difficult to detect and trace their sources. Governments are enacting stricter laws to combat Deepfake content, but implementing these laws still faces technical and enforcement challenges.

Many countries around the world continue to crack down on Telegram

According to previous reports by French media, the relevant French government departments are investigating illegal activities on the Telegram platform, including fraud, drug trafficking, organized crime, child pornography, and the promotion of terrorism. Durov was accused of not taking corresponding measures to prevent these crimes. The Paris prosecutor's office issued a press release on August 26, saying that the Paris prosecutor's office began a judicial investigation on July 8 this year, which included 12 charges and was not aimed at specific people, and Durov was arrested for this.

Currently, the social media "Telegram" has about 900 million users. It is one of the most important social media platforms in the Russian-speaking region and an important platform for both Russia and Ukraine to speak out during the Ukrainian crisis.

South Korea’s move to open a criminal deepfake investigation into Telegram comes weeks after French authorities arrested Telegram founder and CEO Durov on August 24. French prosecutors subsequently charged Durov with multiple criminal offenses, including facilitating illegal activities and distributing child pornography.

By launching an investigation, South Korea joins a growing list of jurisdictions that have opened investigations into Telegram following Durov’s arrest in France.

India, the country with the largest usage of Telegram with more than 100 million users, launched an investigation after Durov's arrest was first reported on August 24.

Indonesia, another major market for Telegram, is also considering blocking Telegram due to a lack of content moderation, according to local reports on August 29. In addition, the European Union has been investigating whether Telegram has provided false data on the number of its users in the EU.