Founder and CEO of Telegram messaging service arrested in France

www.tf1info.fr INFO TF1/LCI : le fondateur et PDG de la messagerie Telegram interpellé en France | TF1 INFO

[VIDÉO] Selon nos informations, le fondateur et PDG de la messagerie sécurisée Telegram a été interpellé ce samedi soir à l'aéroport du Bourget. Pavel Durov, franco-russe de 39 ans, était accompagné de son garde du corps et d'une femme. - INFO TF1/LCI : le fondateur et PDG de la messagerie Telegram ...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19014895

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59 comments

Wow. So they're saying that he's complicit in all crimes that may have taken place on Telegram. That's insane.

91
- Perhaps you can use the same logic to go after gun manufacturers..
  
  71
  
  Fundraiser to send CEOs on a French vacation?
  
  17
- By they logic, France is complicit in all crimes committed within their borders.
  
  70
- Not necessarily. It might be because of the crimes in the public groups and channels in Telegram. That makes it no more immune from responsibility than Facebook or Twitter.
  
  See this thread
  
  Signal doesn't have those.
  
  14
- Considering how hard it is for goverments to actually get Telegram to shutdown criminal chat groups or get chat logs (of unencrypted ) groups I think its at least more reasonable than the whole idea of banning E2E encryption.
  
  8
  
  Most Telegram groups I stumble across for anything even remotely illegal have been shut down, so it's clearly not as lawless as you're painting it to be.
  
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France is fucking nuts

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every encrypted messenger service is complicit in pedophelia apparently.

45
- I mean yes but that's like saying Bitcoin is used by criminals to buy drugs and weapons. The problem is that's not their only use.
  
  37
  
  Wait till you hear about the idiots who unironically make that argument for banning Bitcoin too
  
  15
  
  Bitcoin is a bad example, since it's not designed as a private currency. Monero/XMR is actually usable.
  
  9
  
  That's like saying Voat isn't only used by incel trolls who got banned from reddit
  
  1
  
  That's like saying Voat isn't only used by incel trolls who got banned from reddit
  
  1
  
  Yep. The issue is that they put out a tool that does some good things, but is also heavily adopted by criminals who piggyback on it.
  
  Should we let child abuse just proliferate with these tools, because there’s so much need for privacy? How do you weed out the bad without kneecapping the good? There’s no good answer here. The good parts of the tech working enable the bad parts, too.
  
  There has to be a certain level of knowledge and acceptance of the bad parts to continue developing it. It’s a catch 22, so law enforcement has to pick between sacrificing the privacy or allowing a tool to exist that proliferates child abuse material and other ills.
  
  There are valid arguments for the importance of privacy, and valid arguments for making sure there these crimes shouldn’t have a safe haven. Action to either end will hurt some people and enrage others.
  
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  Yeah it's pretty fuckin retarded
  
  -3
- I dont think Telegram is something that I would call an "encrypted messenger"
  
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  i dont get this. it can be used as one. its being seen as criminal because of its ability to send encrypted messages. comments like this are meaningless.
  
  14
- No, every service provider must remove infringing content when reported. That is not the case on Telegram.
  
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- Permanently Deleted
  
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It's going to be so over soon

This is no doubt retaliation for not handing over the encryption keys

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- Yeah, farewell Telegram. He should probably have stayed at home.
  
  25
  
  Fucking hell what now. We can't use discord and now this. Theres a TG group I'm in that specifically releases Teknoparrot arcade dumps. SHIT
  
  17
- What encryption keys?
  
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Summary: France "requesting" Telegram keys.

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- Summary: "we are no longer asking."
  
  17
  
  But the act to put him on prison is a way to request the access for no longer asking. Depends on how much Pavel Durov can handle this torture.
  
  4
Some significant news for Telegram users!

See this article for some interesting backstory context on Pavel Durov and Telegram: https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-telegram-billionaire-and-his-dark-empire-a-f27cb79f-86ae-48de-bdbd-8df604d07cc8

Since the post article is in French, here's an auto-translation:

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging service Telegram, was arrested around 8 p.m. on Saturday evening as he got off his private jet on the tarmac of Le Bourget airport. The 39-year-old Franco-Russian was accompanied by his bodyguard and a woman.

The arrest was carried out by the gendarmes of the GTA (Air Transport Gendarmerie). Registered in the RPF (wanted persons file), Pavel Durov came straight from Azerbaijan. He had over his head a French search warrant issued by the OFMIN of the National Directorate of the French Judicial Police, issued on the basis of a preliminary investigation.

Why was he under threat of a search warrant?

The Justice considers that the lack of moderation, cooperation with the police and the tools offered by Telegram (disposable number, cryptocurrencies, etc.) makes it complicit in drug trafficking, paedophile offences and fraud.

This search warrant ran if, and only if, Pavel Durov was on national territory. "He made a mistake tonight. We don't know why... Was this flight just a step? In any case, he's locked up!" a source close to the investigation told TF1/LCI. Since he knew he was persona non grata in France, Pavel Durov used to travel to the Emirates, the countries of the former USSR, South America... He travelled very little in Europe and avoided countries where Telegram is under surveillance.

And now?

Investigators from the ONAF (National Anti-Fraud Office attached to the Customs Directorate) notified him and placed him in police custody. He is expected to be presented to an investigating judge this Saturday evening before a possible indictment on Sunday for a multitude of offences: terrorism, drugs, complicity, fraud, money laundering, concealment, paedophile content...

"Pavel Durov will end up in pre-trial detention, that's for sure," comments an investigator to TF1/LCI. "On his platform, he allowed an incalculable number of misdemeanours and crimes to be committed for which he does nothing to moderate or cooperate," said a source close to the case.

His pre-trial detention at the end of his indictment is indeed in no doubt. Pavel Durov, a billionaire, has substantial means to flee and his guarantees of representation will hardly convince the judges.

A net with international resonance

For the investigators, this international sweep has various objectives. First, it makes it possible to kick the anthill, impress and deter the perpetrators of crimes and offences who exchange, until now, freely on Telegram. Secondly, they aim to put pressure on European countries to step up joint work to make secure messaging on terrorist cases bend.

Indeed, Telegram is a hive of criminal content. At the moment, the platform is in the news with the illegal broadcasting of Ligue 1 matches. But on this encrypted messaging service, many accounts are used by organized crime. Beyond terrorism, the most dangerous pedophiles communicate on Telegram to exchange content. "It has become for years THE number 1 platform for organized crime," comments an investigator.

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- Indeed, Telegram is a hive of criminal content. At the moment, the platform is in the news with the illegal broadcasting of Ligue 1 matches.
  
  This is pretty funny. The first example of crime is people posting dodgy links to football streams? They can’t be serious.
  
  12
  
  Piracy is the crime that impacts the billionaire's wallet - of course it's the most serious.
  
  1
- Indeed, Telegram is a hive of criminal content
  
  the platform is in the news with the illegal broadcasting of Ligue 1 matches
  
  7
Guys, please move to something using TOR/I2P. I've been saying it for a long time now, but clearnet services are just asking to be taken down.

Unfortunately for Europe though, the US has a massive incentive for something like TOR to function appropriately, because their military uses it too.

25
- What TOR or I2P chat services are there though? Contrary to popular belief, Telegram blew up because it was so well designed. It was winning design awards year on year back when WhatsApp looked atrocious.
  
  14
  
  Several of them could be ran over there, including Matrix.
  
  Probably there are already some chat services. notbob.i2p should list them if so.
  
  4
  
  Briar is a messaging app that defaults to Tor. I have limited usage with Briar and have never used Telegram so I can't say how they compare.
  
  3
  
  Simplex, Jabber, Briar?
  
  I'm sure there's something over I2P too
  
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Just here too look at shits saying this is because racism jesus fucking christ

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France is an oppressive country. Racism is so high there, especially against muslims which is indicative of their ideology and lack of respect for the individual's right.

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- And men aren't allowed to know if the child that came out of their wife is theirs
  
  2
the only platform where Hamas could actually share official content, including combat footage kinos ;_; rather than made-up sites attributed to them.

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He's now been indicted:

https://www.yourerie.com/news/international/telegram-ceo-indicted-in-paris-court/

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Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh bye bye Telegram

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Permanently Deleted

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- He's not being arrested because he's a billionaire he's being arrested because the French government wants in on his platform and he is refusing to let them in
  
  He's being arrested on trumped up charges in an attempt to coerce him to comply.
  
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  Permanently Deleted
  
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