A lawyer for Telegram boss Pavel Durov, who’s being investigated in France, stated it was “totally absurd” to counsel the pinnacle of a social community was chargeable for any felony acts dedicated on the platform, French media stated.
A French decide put Durov beneath formal investigation on Wednesday, saying he was suspected of complicity in operating a web based platform that permits illicit transactions, photographs of kid intercourse abuse and drug trafficking. He can also be being investigated for alleged cash laundering and the refusal to cooperate with judicial authorities.
Durov, who spent 4 days in police custody following his arrest on Saturday at an airport close to Paris, was granted bail on situation he pays 5 million euros ($5.6 million), studies twice per week to police and doesn’t go away French territory.
His arrest has fuelled debate on the place freedom of speech ends and enforcement of the legislation begins, and to what extent tech firms needs to be held chargeable for social media content material. Telegram is utilized by near a billion folks.
“It’s totally absurd to think that the head of a social network could be involved in criminal acts that do not concern him, either directly or indirectly,” lawyer David-Olivier Kaminski, who’s representing Durov in France, stated in feedback to reporters carried by a number of native media retailers.
“Telegram fully abides with European rules on digital,” he was quoted as saying.
Being positioned beneath formal investigation in France doesn’t indicate guilt or essentially result in trial, however signifies judges take into account there’s sufficient proof to proceed with the probe. Investigations can final years earlier than being despatched to trial or shelved.
Kaminski didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is thought to be an avid person of Telegram, stated earlier this week that Durov’s arrest was “in no way a political decision” and that the probe had been determined by judicial authorities, not by the federal government.
Macron had lunch with Durov in 2018 as a part of a sequence of conferences with tech entrepreneurs, a supply near the president stated, and Durov was granted French citizenship in 2021 beneath a uncommon process for high-profile people.
Source: www.anews.com.tr