One year since Durov’s arrest: What’s happened and what’s ahead?

2025-08-26 11:09:57 Primitive Reading

One year has passed since the arrest of Telegram CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov, sparking outrage from free speech activists and concern over the future of platform moderation.

On Aug. 24, 2024, Durov was arrested at the Paris-Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France as part of an investigation by the French National Judicial Police. The 12 charges later filed against him claim that he is complicit in serious crimes committed by users on his platform.

Durov has expressed confusion and frustration about the case in recent interviews. Free speech advocates harshly criticized the arrest, stating it has serious implications for free speech and platform development.

Now, one year later, there is little progress in the case, and new challenges to user privacy on messaging platforms are rising.

One year after Durov’s arrest, no trial set

Durov was arrested last year after France’s L’Office Mineurs (OFMIN) — the criminal enforcement agency that oversees crimes against minors — issued a warrant in a preliminary investigation of Telegram.

Investigators claimed that Telegram does not moderate content, and therefore, Durov was complicit in alleged offenses ranging from fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organized crime.

In a statement, Telegram claimed that it abided by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act and that its moderation is within industry standards.

The TON Society, an organization behind developing The Open Network based on Telegram’s former blockchain project, called the arrest “a direct assault on a basic human right.” Famed whistleblower Edward Snowden accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “taking hostages for gaining access to private communications.”

Durov didn’t break his silence until September 2024, when he said in a statement on Telegram that the company was “prepared to leave markets that aren’t compatible with our principles.” He also claimed he was surprised by the arrest, given that Telegram reportedly has numerous mechanisms through which it cooperates with authorities.

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