❤️ Thanks everyone for your support and love!
Last month, I underwent a four-day police interview upon my arrival in Paris. The authorities suggested that I could be held personally responsible for the illegal use of Telegram by others, as they did not receive responses from the platform.
This was surprising for several reasons:
1. Telegram has an official EU representative that handles and responds to requests from the EU. The email address for this representative is easily accessible to anyone in the EU searching for “Telegram EU address for law enforcement.”
2. The French authorities had various means to contact me for assistance. As a French citizen, I had frequented the French consulate in Dubai, and I had previously assisted in establishing a hotline with Telegram to combat terrorism in France.
3. When a country is dissatisfied with an internet service, the typical course of action is to take legal action against the service itself. Holding a CEO personally accountable for actions taken by third parties on the platform he manages using outdated laws is a flawed approach that discourages innovation.
Striking a balance between privacy and security is a complex task. It involves reconciling privacy laws with law enforcement needs, aligning local laws with EU regulations, and considering technological constraints. While upholding our principles, we have engaged with regulators to find this delicate balance.
In instances where we cannot reach an agreement with a country’s regulatory authorities on privacy and security measures, we are prepared to exit that market. We have previously left countries like Russia and Iran due to conflicts over surveillance demands and censorship requests.
Telegram strives to protect its users in authoritarian regimes while acknowledging the need for improvement. We are committed to removing harmful content, issuing transparency reports, and collaborating with NGOs to expedite moderation requests.
We acknowledge that Telegram’s rapid user growth has led to challenges in combating criminal activities on our platform. As part of my personal mission, we are actively working on enhancing our processes to address these issues.
I believe that the incidents in August will prompt Telegram and the social networking industry to become safer and more robust. Thank you once again for your support and humor 🙏
