New York (CNN) – Telegram CEO Pavel Durov returned to the messaging platform on Thursday, saying in a lengthy post that he was surprised to have been arrested and questioned by French authorities less than two weeks ago in an investigation that has sparked debate over the freedom of expression and criminal activity online.
Durov was detained at a Paris airport as part of an investigation into alleged crimes related to criminal activities on Telegram, according to French prosecutors. He was subsequently released from police custody on bail set at US$5.56 million pending investigation.
Telegram, which Durov says has 950 million users, is used as an everyday messaging tool and as a way to circumvent authoritarian governments, but it is also used by white supremacist groups and ISIS.
Prosecutors are also investigating Durov for alleged “acts of violence” against his son in Switzerland.
In the Telegram post On Thursday, the first message since his arrest, Durov acknowledged that the “abrupt increase” in users of the application caused growth problems that made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform.
“That’s why I made it my personal goal to make sure we significantly improve things in this regard. We have already started that process internally, and I will share with you more details about our progress very soon,” Durov said.
Durov said the purpose of the app is to protect users in authoritarian regimes. Durov noted that the app refused to hand over the “encryption keys” to Russia, leading to its ban in that country. The app was also banned in Iran after the app refused to block channels used by protesters, he said.
“We are prepared to abandon markets that are not compatible with our principles, because we do not do this for money,” Durov said, stating that the app has walked away in cases where it “cannot agree with a country’s regulator.” about the right balance between privacy and security.”
Durov also refuted the French authorities’ move to demand personal responsibility from him.
“If a country is dissatisfied with an Internet service, the established practice is to take legal action against the service itself,” he said. “Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to accuse a CEO of crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is the wrong approach.”
– CNN’s Antonella Francini, Emmanuel Miculita, Anna Chernova and Zahid Mahmood contributed to this report.
