Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov — finally breaking his silence since his arrest on Aug. 24 — claimed that charging a CEO with “crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach.” 

The founder criticized the actions of French authorities, pointing out that there were “numerous ways” to reach out to Telegram, especially since Durov had established a hotline to handle terrorism-related threats.

Durov expressed that no innovators will ever build new tools if they are personally held accountable for the potential abuse of their tools by other individuals and third parties.

Telegram’s founder also mentioned that it is important to establish the right balance between privacy and security. While ensuring that users are protected against “authoritarian regimes,” Durov claimed that Telegram is always “committed to engaging” with regulators to find the “right balance.” 

In case Telegram doesn’t agree with a country’s regulator, Durov claimed:

“In those cases, we are ready to leave that country. We've done it many times. When Russia demanded we hand over “encryption keys” to enable surveillance, we refused — and Telegram got banned in Russia. ”

Telegram’s founder stated that the reason that they are willing to leave the market that isn’t compatible with their principles is that they want to defend the basic rights of people, especially in places “where these rights are violated.” 

Although the social messaging platform focuses on defending people's rights, Durov acknowledged that Telegram is not perfect and still needs improvement. The founder stated that they need to make it easier for authorities to send requests.

Replying to media claims that Telegram is an anarchic paradise, Durov claimed it is false. The founder stated:

“We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day. We publish daily transparency reports. We have direct hotlines with NGOs to process urgent moderation requests faster.”

Noticing the rise of bad actors in Telegram, Durov promised that they have started taking measures to deal with these criminals who abuse the platform and will be sharing the details of their platform soon.

Read more: Paris prosecutors issue statement days after arresting Pavel Durov