Telegram’s Pavel Durov says ‘growing pains’ aided criminal ‘abuse’

A 2015 file photo of Durov. France on Aug 28, 2024, charged Durov, the founder and chief of Telegram, with a litany of violations related to the messaging app and banned him from leaving the country while allowing the billionaire to walk free after four days under arrest. — AFP

Telegram chief executive officer Pavel Durov defended the encrypted messaging app in his first public comments since being arrested in Paris last month, while acknowledging that the company’s rapid growth to 950 million users has resulted in “growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform”.

The social media billionaire was charged in France last week for failing to stop the spread of illicit content on the app, including child sex abuse material and drug sales. Telegram has frequently drawn criticism from governments including the European Union and authoritarian regimes in Russia and Iran over content on the platform, which has become a gathering place for conspiracy theorists and extremists.