Russian tech mogul was charged with multiple offenses related to illegal content on his platform

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been granted permission to temporarily leave France amid an ongoing investigation into alleged criminal activity on his messaging platform, AFP reported on Saturday, citing anonymous sources.

The Russian entrepreneur, who also holds citizenship in France, the UAE, and St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport in August 2024. French authorities charged him with facilitating the distribution of child sexual exploitation material and drug trafficking due to alleged moderation failures on Telegram. He was later released on €5 million ($5.46 million) bail but was barred from leaving France and required to check in with police twice a week.

According to AFP, "the investigating judge accepted Durov's request to modify the conditions of his supervision several days ago," allowing him to travel abroad for several weeks.

"He departed France this morning," a source told the agency on Saturday, while another confirmed he left for Dubai, where he had lived for seven years before his arrest.

A Telegram spokeswoman declined to comment when contacted by AFP, stating that the company would issue a statement later.

Durov has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that he should not be held responsible for user-generated content on Telegram. At a January court hearing, he told judges that the platform removes "between 15 and 20 million user accounts for breaking the law" each month and deletes child exploitation material "the same day."

Telegram has also increased cooperation with law enforcement, sharing user data from about 10,000 accounts in the past six months, according to Durov. In September 2024, the company revised its privacy policy, allowing it to store metadata-including IP addresses, device details, and username changes-for up to a year. The policy states that this data may be provided to "relevant judicial authorities" if a user is suspected of illegal activity.

Durov's legal team has dismissed the charges as baseless, arguing that it is unfair to hold him accountable for crimes committed via the platform.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also criticized the case, calling it "absurd" and comparing it to arresting the CEOs of Renault or Citroën because terrorists have used their cars.

(RT.com)