New York (CNN) – Telegram CEO Pavel Durov returned to the messaging platform on Thursday, saying in a lengthy post that he was shocked to have been arrested and questioned by French authorities less than two weeks ago in an investigation that has sparked debate over free speech and criminal activity online.
Durov was arrested at a Paris airport as part of an investigation into alleged offences related to criminal activity on Telegram, according to French prosecutors. He was later released from police custody on bail set at $5.56 million while the investigation is ongoing.
Telegram, which Durov says has 950 million users, is used as an everyday messaging tool and a way to circumvent authoritarian governments, but is also used by white supremacist groups and ISIS.
Prosecutors are also investigating Durov for alleged “acts of violence” against his son in Switzerland.
In the Telegram post In his first message since his arrest on Thursday, Durov acknowledged that the “abrupt increase” in the app’s users caused growth problems that made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform.
“That is why I have made it my personal goal to ensure that we significantly improve things in this regard. We have already started this process internally, and I will share with you more details about our progress very soon,” Durov said.
Durov said the app’s purpose is to protect users in authoritarian regimes. Durov noted that the app refused to hand over “encryption keys” to Russia, leading to its ban in that country. The app was also banned in Iran after the app refused to block channels used by protesters, he said.
“We are prepared to leave markets that are not compatible with our principles, because we are not in this for money,” Durov said, claiming that the app has left in cases where it “cannot agree with a country’s regulator on the right balance between privacy and security.”
Durov also rejected the French authorities' move to hold him personally accountable.
“If a country is dissatisfied with an internet service, the established practice is to take legal action against the service itself,” he said. “Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to accuse a CEO of crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is the wrong approach.”
– CNN’s Antonella Francini, Emmanuel Miculita, Anna Chernova and Zahid Mahmood contributed to this report.
