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Telegram CEO Arrested in France Over Content Moderation Issues
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So also arrest all gun manufacturers as their guns are used in violence and terrorism. EU has already fallen.
Ugh. Only the dregs of society use Telegram. That’s a fact.
Pavel Durov, the 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris late Saturday evening. The arrest occurred shortly after Durov arrived on a private jet from Azerbaijan and is said to be part of a joint investigation by several agencies investigating alleged failures in content moderation on the Telegram platform that may have facilitated criminal activity.
According to sources who spoke to Reuters, French authorities had spotted Durov on the passenger list and moved to arrest him due to an existing warrant. Several French TV reports said that authorities have been investigating Telegram's alleged moderation failures, which they believe may have facilitated a range of illegal activities, including terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and child exploitation.
Telegram, which is based in Dubai, responded to Durov's arrest by stating that the company "abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act" and that its moderation practices are "within industry standards and constantly improving." The company emphasized that Durov "has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe," calling it "absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform."
The arrest has drawn criticism from various quarters, including X (Twitter) owner Elon Musk, who has posted the hashtag "#FreePavel" on the platform, and has previously claimed that free speech is under attack in Europe. Russian officials have also expressed their concern, with the foreign ministry demanding consular access to Durov, who holds dual French and UAE citizenship.
Durov, often referred to as the "Russian Mark Zuckerberg," founded Telegram in 2013 after leaving Russia due to conflicts with authorities over his refusal to shut down opposition communities on his previous social media platform, VK. In 2018, Russia began blocking Telegram after the app refused to grant state security services access to users' messages, but the ban was lifted in 2020 when Telegram agreed to help with "extremism investigations." Telegram has since grown to nearly 1 billion users and has become a crucial communication tool, particularly in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in 2022.
The Telegram chief's arrest has also put Telegram's encryption practices under the spotlight again. Despite being widely described as an "encrypted messaging app," Telegram's default settings for most users do not provide end-to-end encryption. Unlike WhatsApp and Signal, one-on-one chats are not encrypted by default, and group chats are never encrypted. This means that Telegram staff potentially have access to every message sent in these chats, which may be why Russia is so concerned about the arrest.
For users seeking true end-to-end encryption on Telegram, it must be manually configured as a "secret chat," a process that is not all that straightforward. Not only that, these "secret" group chats are limited to only two users, which raises questions about the platform's efforts to protect user privacy.
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Article Link: Telegram CEO Arrested in France Over Content Moderation Issues
I tried Telegram for awhile and discovered that you could search for public groups near you. I found local groups that sold weed and coke, girls offering escort services... it was weird. All out in the open.
Never used or even downloaded Telegram, and don't know anyone that uses it. What's the advantage over an app like Signal?
As for this story; he is a French citizen, arrested in France, for violating French law. I don't see the issue?
As for this story; he is a French citizen, arrested in France, for violating French law. I don't see the issue?
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It’s obnoxious, uses more battery and has plenty of desperate “pay us please” features like custom emoji tied to its premium subscription
Oh and it has bots and they introduced a new fake currency lately that you can use to pay such bots
Just ask your friends to not sell drugs and illegal pornography through it. Should be ok.
Oh, let us arrest everybody that has anything to do with telecom...
Sounds like quite a few social media CEOs may want to skip taking vacations in the French Riviera for now. 🤪
Telegram is not end-to-end encrypted. All group-chats and most one-on-one messages are saved as plain-text on their servers.
I really don't know the overall history of Telegram and this CEO that would necessitate charges, however, that Mark Zuckerberg is still walking away free makes the charges for the "russian mark zuckerberg" a bit dubious
I think only private chats are end to end incepted. I think what they do not like is that it is distributed computing.
the people who tend call everyone else 'fascists' are celebrating this arrest.
If a car company implemented chat function or facility expression, then they have social responsibilities to ensure communication between its users follows law and not facilities any terrorism, social unrest, drugs or any illegal activities.
Freedom of expression does not mean you can say anything. Freedom of expression does have limitations.
Gun seller should have to do universal background check, mental capacity and gun license should be checked to ensure responsible gun ownership.
In general, gun should be banned.
European here.
Although I disagree with lots of things that the EU does, this one is particularly great to hear because of how Telegram is used by Russian propaganda, as well as often used by various criminals such as drug dealers, pedophiles and others. Heck, I would even say that ordering a hitman is as easy as ordering a pizza from your favorite chain. So, basically, everything you should expect on the dark web, is freely available on the App Store, even to kids, while "respecting" free speech in an even bigger degree than post-Musk Twitter.
Not to mention the company is somehow affiliated with Putin's regime and ignores law.
Although I disagree with lots of things that the EU does, this one is particularly great to hear because of how Telegram is used by Russian propaganda, as well as often used by various criminals such as drug dealers, pedophiles and others. Heck, I would even say that ordering a hitman is as easy as ordering a pizza from your favorite chain. So, basically, everything you should expect on the dark web, is freely available on the App Store, even to kids, while "respecting" free speech in an even bigger degree than post-Musk Twitter.
Not to mention the company is somehow affiliated with Putin's regime and ignores law.
Well done France, well done EU. One down, Musk to go.
This is the slippery slope in plain view. What is “content moderation” and who decides what content to moderate? Define the word moderate, sort of like former POTUS Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings when he answered a question with, “It depends on what the meaning of is is.”
Yes, the things this Durov is accused of failing to moderate, on the surface, seem despicable. What comes next from the shadowy regulators charged with protecting us from ourselves?
What if the so-called free world politicians decide criticizing the government needs to be “moderated”. It’s already illegal to refuse to use the self defined pronouns of anther person. Is that not compelled speech?
In my opinion the free world is heading in the direction of controlled and compelled speech. Wasn't there a novel about this very thing?
Yes, the things this Durov is accused of failing to moderate, on the surface, seem despicable. What comes next from the shadowy regulators charged with protecting us from ourselves?
What if the so-called free world politicians decide criticizing the government needs to be “moderated”. It’s already illegal to refuse to use the self defined pronouns of anther person. Is that not compelled speech?
In my opinion the free world is heading in the direction of controlled and compelled speech. Wasn't there a novel about this very thing?
If the groups are public, why don't LE groups use them to track down nefarious actors? I never understood this logic. If criminals are willing to put themselves out there, it should be that much easier to hunt them down. It's not like those groups will close down their operations if telegram started moderating more. It's almost like these governments just want to appear like they are doing the right thing, without actually caring about going after the real problem...
Crazy idea but responsibility for policing shouldnt be socialized to private entities.
Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU says this:
just kidding. the last 2 sentences were made up.
Careful don't give them any ideas. At this rate any time we want to have a private conversation we'll have to first call 1-800-GOT-FEDS and put it on speakerphone. 🙃