Durov, a dual citizen of France and Russia, faces a total of six charges, according to a translated version of the Paris prosecutor’s office statement.
The Telegram CEO is accused of “complicity” in the distribution of child sexual abuse materials, illicit transactions, money laundering and drug trafficking allegedly taking place on the messaging app.
He spent days in police custody for questioning and was released Wednesday morning ahead of his court appearance, where he was formally indicted. He was released from custody and placed under judicial supervision after posting $5.5 million for bail.
The arrest followed a judicial investigation opened last month into an unnamed individual suspected of “complicity” in illegal transactions, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials, possession and sale of narcotics, and organized fraud, among other charges.
Critics of Durov’s arrest linked it to concerns over free speech and the privacy of users’ content.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk — who throttled content moderation on X after purchasing the social media platform in 2022 — voiced his support for Pavel this week. Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski also claimed France “crossed a red line” by arresting Durov for not censoring free speech.
Telegram cannot be directly compared to many U.S. social media platforms due to differences in security protocols, experts said.
Even so, Durov’s arrest still raises potential concerns for U.S. tech companies operating abroad as European countries ramp up regulations.
“I think it’s certainly of concern to U.S. tech companies, U.S. founders, anybody thinking about starting a tech business in France,” Will Duffield, an adjunct fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, told The Hill.
“The lack of process here, or seeming lack of process, should be most concerning.”
The Hill’s Miranda Nazzaro has more here.
