Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has said that it is completely wrong to portray his encrypted messenger as a platform where criminals act with impunity.
The Russian-French businessman defended Telegram after being charged by the French authorities with allowing the dissemination of illegal content.
Durov released a lengthy statement on his Telegram channel on Thursday, saying that he had cooperated with French law enforcement in the past. “When asked, I personally helped them establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France,” he wrote.
Durov acknowledged that Telegram, which currently has more than 950 million monthly active users, has been experiencing “growing pains” that made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform. He promised to “significantly improve” content management.