The Telegram CEO’s arrest revives a debate over who’s responsible for on-platform crimes

Sending a message… Telegram boss Pavel Durov was detained by French authorities on Saturday and is expected to remain in custody through at least today. Durov was arrested as part of an investigation into the messaging platform, which the company says has nearly 1B monthly users. Durov’s arrest is connected to allegations against an unnamed person who French authorities say is complicit in crimes committed via Telegram, including the distribution of child exploitative material, drug trafficking, and money laundering.

• “At the heart of this case is the lack of moderation and cooperation of the platform,” a French agency investigating Durov said.

• Telegram’s emphasis on privacy and its moderation policies — widely criticized as lax — made it appealing to groups like crypto enthusiasts and Ukrainian refugees, but also to criminals and terrorists.

Safety and censorship… it’s a fine line. Durov’s arrest has reignited a debate over free speech and moderation. Telegram said, “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.” Telegram supporters called Durov’s arrest government censorship, but French President Emmanuel Macron said it was “in no way a political decision.” Elon Musk tweeted #FreePavel, while Mark Zuckerberg said gov’t officials had wrongly pressured Meta to censor some Covid-19 posts.

• At the same time, regulators are struggling to control crime online: in January, lawmakers grilled the top execs of Meta, TikTok, Snap, X, and Discord at a Senate hearing, saying they weren’t doing enough to prevent child sexual abuse on their platforms.