All the news on Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest – The Verge

Telegram is reportedly being slowed down and restricted in Russia

2026-02-11T12:08:36-05:00

Telegram users in Russia may begin noticing service disruptions on Tuesday after Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, reportedly moved to slow down and restrict access to the app, as reported by Russian news outlet RBC.

Roskomnadzor said in a statement to RBC, translated using machine translation, that it "will continue to introduce successive restrictions" on Telegram, claiming the app is not taking adequate steps to prevent fraud and criminal activity. Reuters quotes Telegram users in Moscow who confirmed that they've been experiencing issues with the app, including a woman named Anna, who said, "It's very bad because all my …

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Telegram will now hand over your phone number and IP if you’re a criminal suspect

2024-09-23T14:59:03-04:00

Telegram will now turn over a user's phone number and IP address if it receives a request from authorities, according to its just-updated privacy policy:

If Telegram receives a valid order from the relevant judicial authorities that confirms you're a suspect in a case involving criminal activities that violate the Telegram Terms of Service, we will perform a legal analysis of the request and may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities.

The adjustment is the latest change Telegram has made following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov last month, who French authorities charged with enabling illegal activity …

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Telegram disables ‘misused’ features as CEO faces criminal charges

2024-09-06T12:22:25-04:00

In a post on Telegram Friday, founder and CEO Pavel Durov set out a new approach for the app and announced it's disabled some "outdated" features. The first changes to the app following his arrest in France last month affect its built-in blog posts and a "People Nearby" location-based feature.

The changes come as Durov attempts to reverse Telegram's reputation as a hotspot for criminal activity that came as a result of lax moderation policies. In late August, French authorities arrested and charged Durov with enabling legal transactions and complicity in the distribution of child sexual abuse material.

Durov's first post-arrest statement T …

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Telegram changes its tone on moderating private chats after CEO’s arrest

2024-09-05T23:24:54-04:00

Telegram has quietly removed language from its FAQ page saying private chats were protected and that "we do not process any requests related to them." The change comes nearly two weeks after its CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France for allegedly allowing "criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app."

In response, Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn says the app's source code has not changed. "Private chats are still private too - although you could always report a new incoming chat to moderators by using Block > Report. Anyone can check Telegram's open source code and see there were no changes," writes Vaughn in a statement …

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Telegram CEO breaks silence after arrest

2024-09-05T21:00:06-04:00

Pavel Durov. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Twelve days after he was arrested in France, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has broken his silence with a 600-word statement on his Telegram account that blames "growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform."

French authorities had charged Durov with enabling various forms of criminal activity on Telegram, including an unnamed person's distribution of child sexual abuse material on the platform. An unnamed statement from Telegram at the time of his arrest said Durov had "nothing to hide."

While the vast majority of his statement today paints his arrest as surprising and unfair, he also admits that policing Telegram has b …

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The problem with Telegram

2024-08-30T11:27:14-04:00

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France last weekend, and a few days later was charged with a number of offenses connected to criminal activity on Telegram. There's a lot about this story we don't yet know, but this week's events seem to signal a shift in how countries and governments plan to hold executives accountable for what happens on their platforms.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we try and make sense of what happened here - and what might happen next. We talk about what makes Telegram different from WhatsApp or Facebook, the ways Durov set up and operated the company that may have made this confrontation inevitable, and w …

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Telegram CEO charged in French criminal investigation

2024-08-28T16:42:01-04:00

A French investigative judge has charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with enabling illegal transactions among other alleged offenses, according to reports from NBC News and Le Monde. Durov had been arrested Saturday as part of an investigation into child sexual abuse material and other criminal activity on Telegram.

The charges were later detailed in a press release posted to the official LinkedIn account of the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office.

French prosecutors will release Durov under judicial supervision on a €5 million bail, but he won't be allowed to leave France. As noted by Le Monde, Durov also faces charges of refusing to comply wit …

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Telegram’s CEO has taken a hands-off approach for years — now his luck might have run out

2024-08-27T18:45:00-04:00

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's arrest in France on Saturday took the tech world by surprise. The 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire was detained after touching down at an airport outside of Paris in his private plane. And with scant detail available, observers wondered what the unprecedented action meant for free speech, encryption, and the risks of running a platform that could be used for crime.

On Monday, French officials revealed that Durov is being questioned as part of a wide-ranging criminal investigation surrounding crimes that regularly happen on Telegram. While some of the accusations could still raise red flags, many seem to conce …

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Telegram says CEO has ‘nothing to hide’ after being arrested in France

2024-08-25T23:38:51-04:00

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. | Photo: Getty Images

Telegram says its CEO and founder Pavel Durov has "nothing to hide" after he was arrested by French authorities outside of Paris.

"It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform," the company says in an unnamed statement posted to its official channel in the Telegram app on Sunday. French officials have confirmed to multiple outlets that Durov was arrested as part of a police investigation into criminal activity taking place on the social network.

"Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information," reads the company's statement. "We're …

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French authorities arrest Telegram’s CEO

2024-08-24T19:22:15-04:00

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is reportedly in custody after being arrested near Paris Saturday evening as he was departing his private jet. The billionaire was apprehended on a warrant related to a preliminary investigation, writes Reuters.

French authorities believe that the platform's lack of moderation has "allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app." Durov will go before a judge tonight and could be indicted as early as Sunday, according to sources for TF1 TV (which we read using Google Translate), one of two French outlets cited by Reuters.

Telegram has become a critical resource as people turn to it to find crucia …

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