France files 12 criminal charges against Telegram CEO after Israel calls the platform ‘uncooperative’

By The Cradle

Telegram founder Pavel Durov is being held in custody by French authorities as part of a cybercrime investigation, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement on August 26.

The Russian-born billionaire and founder of the popular messaging app was arrested upon landing in the French capital on Saturday evening.

The prosecutor's statement mentions 12 different crimes being investigated for “complicity” in organized crime, including illegal transactions, child pornography, fraud and refusal to disclose information to authorities.

The statement added that Durov's detention period had been extended and could now last until Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the French authorities for their double standards following Durov's arrest. “I just remember that in 2018 a group of 26 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists and others, condemned the decision of a Russian court to block Telegram. The West made similar statements,” Zakharova explained.

Telegram has played a major role in the ongoing information war surrounding the Gaza genocide. Supporters of the Palestinians have been able to use the app to freely share information exposing ongoing Israeli war crimes while highlighting the efforts of Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen and Iran to resist Israel.

It is unclear whether Israel played a role in Durov's arrest in Paris on Saturday.

Last week, Haaretz reported that “Telegram has proven to be a tremendous challenge to Israel since the beginning of the war.”

These include sensitive data leaks from Israel that were captured by hackers and published on Telegram channels.

The Israeli newspaper noted: “While many technology companies have developed mechanisms to reach out to states” to censor content, “Telegram is considered the least cooperative of all.”

Haaretz adds: “In addition, while many social media platforms have invested heavily in moderation and allowed individuals and organizations to help monitor content – for example, by removing anti-Semitic content or posts that incite terrorism, or even by removing videos of the October 7 massacre – Telegram has not done so.”

Israel has succeeded in controlling and censoring information on other social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok through the lobbying efforts of Cyberwell, an NGO with extensive ties to Israeli intelligence.

On August 23, the Resistance News Network (RNN) Telegram channel was blocked across the EU, after which the network activated its backup.

On August 16, Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta permanently banned The cradle from his social media platforms for allegedly violating community guidelines by “praising terrorist organizations” and engaging in “incitement to violence.” The cradle had over 107,000 followers and millions of views due to his coverage of Israel's genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Concerned about the wave of pro-Palestinian content, Israeli tech professionals attempted to reach the Telegram founder in the United Arab Emirates, where he lives and is a citizen, in late 2023.

Although they successfully contacted Durov, “he was unresponsive to these private requests to improve moderation on the platform.” Haaretz wrote.

Durov's arrest follows recent efforts by Western countries to silence journalists and analysts critical of Israel.

On August 7, the FBI raided the home of US journalist and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who writes for RT and is a sharp critic of US policy in Ukraine and Israel.

The raid on Ritter's home came 24 hours after he said in an interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano that religious Jewish Israelis were using the Talmud to justify sexual assault and torture of Palestinian detainees in the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp.

Syrian-British journalist Richard Medhurst was arrested upon arrival at Heathrow Airport earlier this month and detained for 24 hours, he announced on August 20.

Medhurst said on social media that six police officers were waiting for him when he got off the plane in London on August 15, adding that he was questioned under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act.

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