Macron confirms that Dúrov’s arrest is “not political”
The arrest of the founder and CEO of Telegram, Pável Dúrov, in France “shouldn’t be a political choice in any respect” and befell throughout the framework of an ongoing judicial investigation, President Emmanuel Macron mentioned this Monday.
“It’s as much as the judges to resolve,” Macron mentioned in a message on X, the place he added that it’s the judicial system that should implement the regulation “with full independence.”
Dúrov, 39, was detained final Friday evening after arriving on the non-public Le Bourget airport, subsequent to Paris, and a decide arrested him for a very long time on Sunday evening.
Macron denied that “false data” had circulated round this arrest and pressured that France was dedicated to freedom of expression and communication, innovation and entrepreneurship, and “will stay so.”
“Within the rule of regulation, on social networks and in actual life, freedom is exercised inside a framework established by regulation to guard residents and respect their rights,” insisted the French president.
Alternatively, the pinnacle of the workplace of the Ministry of the Inside answerable for combating violence in opposition to minors (OFMIN), mentioned right this moment that the arrest of Dúrov is predicated on the shortage of motion of the platform, particularly within the combat in opposition to paedophilia.
“On the coronary heart of this case is the absence of moderation and cooperation of the platform (which has nearly a billion customers), particularly within the combat in opposition to crime in opposition to kids,” mentioned the secretary normal of OFMIN, Jean Michel Bernigaud, in a message on LinkedIn .
OFMIN is the origin of the French arrest warrant based mostly on a preliminary investigation.
French Justice has maintained full silence on Dúrov’s arrest, though numerous data factors to the shortage of moderation on Telegram and Dúrov’s lack of cooperation with the authorities, together with the instruments that the platform provides, equivalent to disposable numbers and cryptography, which makes it an confederate in crimes equivalent to drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud.
Telegram, an encrypted messaging community, assured that Dúrov has “nothing to cover” and complies “with the legal guidelines of the European Union.”
“Telegram complies with EU legal guidelines, together with the Digital Companies Act: its moderation is inside business requirements and is consistently enhancing,” the community added in an announcement.
Durov, a billionaire of Russian descent who has the nationality of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in addition to Russian and French, lives in Dubai.
With data from EFE