(Paris) Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has vowed to make moderation of his messaging service “a source of pride,” a week after he was charged in France over the publication of illegal content on his app.
“We are committed to making moderation on Telegram, which is currently under criticism, a source of pride,” he wrote in a message posted on X on Friday.
On Thursday, the 39-year-old billionaire broke his silence for the first time since his arrest, in a long message on Telegram in which he said he found it “surprising” to be held responsible for content published by other people and considered the French approach “ill-advised”.
He did, however, acknowledge that the sharp rise in the number of Telegram users – which he now estimates at 950 million worldwide – had created a situation that “made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”
“If 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities give a bad image” of the application, he said on Friday.
Among the new features highlighted by Durov is the arrival of the geolocation function “Businesses Nearby”, which will only present “legitimate and verified companies”, instead of “People Nearby” which allowed users to get in touch with users located nearby.
The latter was “used by less than 0.1% of Telegram users, but encountered problems due to bots [applications logicielles automatisées] and crooks,” the leader explained.
He also said that the paid version of the app, Telegram Premium, had reached 10 million subscribers.
After four days in police custody in France, Mr Durov, who holds Russian, French and Emirati passports, was charged with numerous offences linked to his messaging app and banned from leaving the country.
His heavy judicial supervision also provides for a bail of five million euros and a check-in at the police station twice a week.